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‘* THE GENTLEMAN IN THE PEW HANDED IT UP TO HER” 
[Page 238 


ADVENTURES 


OF 


Se RLOCK HOLMES 


BY 


A. CONAN DOYLE 


AUTHOR OF ‘‘ MICAH CLARKE” ETC,’ 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW YORK 
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 


Copyright, 1892, by HARPER & BROTHERS. 


All rights reserved. 


CORTE N TS 


I—A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA. 


IIl.—THE 


RED-HEADED LEAGUE ..... 


IIlL—A CASE OF IDENTITY 


IV.—THE 
V.—THE 
VI.—THE 
VIIL—THE 
VIII.—THE 
IX.—THE 
X.—THE 
XI.—THE 


XII.—THE 


BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY ...... 
PIVEORANGE PIPS 0 ses a SE 
MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP. 

ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE . 


ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND. 


ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB . 


ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR . 
ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET. 


ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


’ 


**THE GENTLEMAN IN THE PEW HANDED IT UP TO HER’ 

NAM MOT RMRIR SC reek diate ye a Agha ) afte k ger tk cee 

*“THE DOOR WAS SHUT AND LOCKED” ... . 

**ALL AFTERNOON HE. SAT IN THE STALLS” ... . 

**SHERLOCK HOLMES WELCOMED HER” . ... 

‘GLANCING ABOUT HIM LIKE A RAT IN A TRAP” . . 

‘‘THEY FOUND THE BODY” , . 

‘THE MAID SHOWED US THE BOOTS”. . ... . 

‘** HOLMES,’ I CRIED, ‘YOU ARE TOO LATE’” 

‘*AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS SHE MET THIS LASCAR 
TIE Fo te Ge, a ee 

‘** HAVE MERCY!’ HE SHRIEKED” 

***GOOD-BYE, AND BE BRAVE’”’, 


x» 


‘**NOT A WORD TO A SOUL Se Es ik gee ale ee a 
‘**T WILL WISH YOU ALL A VERY GOOD NIGHT’” . . 
Pa COAPPRiy A PISTOL TO HIS HEAD”. 3 3 yack 


**T AM SO DELIGHTED THAT YOU HAVE COME’”, . , 


Frontispiece 


Facing p. 


8 
40 


134 
172 
196 
214 
250 
278 
292 


ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


: eS 
canst 
eee 

een 


Adventure F 
A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 


I 


SSO Sherlock Holmes she is always tHe woman. I 
have seldom heard him mention her under any 
other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predom- 
inates the whole of her sex. It was not that he 
felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, 
and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise, 
but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most 
perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has 
seen; but, as a lover, he would have placed himself in a false 
position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with 
a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the 
observer—excellent for drawing the veil from men’s motives 
and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such in- 
trusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted tempera- 
ment was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw 
a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instru- 
ment, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would 
not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature 
such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and 
that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and question- 
able memory. 

I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted 
us away from each other. My own complete happiness, and 
the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who 
first finds himself master of his own establishment, were suffi- 


4 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


cient to absorb all my attention; while Holmes, who loathed 
every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained 
in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, 
and alternating from week to week between cocaine and am- 
bition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of 
his own keen nature. He was still, as ever, deeply attracted 
by the study of crime, and occupied his immense faculties 
and extraordinary powers of observation in following out 
those clues, and clearing up those mysteries, which had been 
abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time to 
time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his sum- 
mons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his 
clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers 
at Trincomalee, and finally of the mission which he had ac- 
complished so delicately and successfully for the reigning 
family of Holland. Beyond these signs of his activity, how- 
ever, which I merely shared with all the readers of the daily 
press, I knew little of my former friend and companion. 

One night—it was on the 2oth of March, 1888—I was return- 
ing from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to 
civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. 
As I passed the well-remembered door, which must always be 
associated in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark 
incidents of the Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen 
desire to see Holmes again, and to know how he was employ- 
ing his extraordinary powers. His rooms were brilliantly lit, 
and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall, spare figure pass 
twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing 
the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest 
and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his 
every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own 
story. He was at work again. He had arisen out of his drug- 
created dreams, and was hot upon the scent of some new 
problem. I rang the bell, and was shown up to the chamber 
which had formerly been in part my own. 

His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was 


A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 5 


glad, I think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but 
with a kindly eye, he waved me to an arm-chair, threw across 
his case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene 
in the corner. ‘Then he stood before the fire, and looked me 
over in his singular introspective fashion. 

“Wedlock suits you,” he remarked. “I think, Watson, that 
you have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you.” 

“Seven !” I answered. 

“ Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle © 
more, I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. 
You did not tell me that you intended to go into harness.” 

“Then, how do you know?” 

“T see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been 

getting yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most 
clumsy and careless servant girl ?” 
_ “My dear Holmes,” said I, “this is too much. You would 
certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. 
It is true that I had a country walk on Thursday and came 
home in a dreadful mess ; but, as I have changed my clothes, 
I can’t imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is 
incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice; but there, 
again, I fail to see how you work it out.” 

He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands 
together. 

“It is simplicity itself,” said he; “ my eyes tell me that on 
the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, 
the leather is scored by six almost paralled cuts. Obviously 
they have been caused by some one who has very carelessly 
scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove 
crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction 
that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a 
particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London 
slavey. As to your practice, if a gentleman walks into my 
rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black mark of nitrate of 
silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge on the side of his 
top-hat to show where he has secreted his stethoscope, I 


6 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce him to be an active 
member of the medical profession.” 

I could not help laughing at the ease with which he ex- 
plained his process of deduction. “When I hear you give 
your reasons,” I remarked, “the thing always appears to me 
to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, 
though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am 
baffled, until you explain your process. And yet I believe 
that my eyes are as good as yours.” 

“Quite so,” he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing 
himself down into an arm-chair. ‘You see, but you do not 
observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have fre- 
quently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.” 

“ Frequently.” 

“ How often ?”’ 

“Well, some hundreds of times.” 

“Then how many are there ?” 

“How many? I don’t know.” 

“Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have 
seen, ‘That is just my point. Now, I know that there are 
seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed. By- 
the-way, since you are interested in these little problems, and 
since you are good enough to chronicle one or two of my 
trifling experiences, you may be interested in this.” He threw 
over a sheet of thick, pink-tinted note-paper which had been 
lying open upon the table. “It came by the last post,’ said 
he. “ Read it aloud.” 

The note was undated, and without either signature or 
address. 

“There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight 
o'clock,” it said, “‘a gentleman who desires to consult you 
upon a matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent serv- 
ices to one of the royal houses of Europe have shown that 
you are one who may safely be trusted with matters which are 
of an importance which can hardly be exaggerated. This 
account of you we have from all quarters received. Be in 


A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 7 


your chamber then at that hour, and do not take it amiss if 
your visitor wear a mask.” 

“This is indeed a mystery,” I remarked. “What do you 
imagine that it means ?” 

“T have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize 
before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to 
suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note 
itself. What do you deduce from it ?” 

I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which 
it was written. 

“The man who wrote it was presumably well to do,” I re- 
marked, endeavoring to imitate my companion’s processes, 
‘Such paper could not be bought under half a crown a 
packet. It is peculiarly strong and stiff.” 

“ Peculiar—that is the very word,” said Holmes. “It is 
not an English paper at all. Hold it up to the light.” 

I did so, and saw a large Z with a small g,a /, and a large 
G with a small ¢ woven into the texture of the paper. 

“ What do you make of that?” asked Holmes. 

“The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, 
rather.” 

“Not at all. The G with the small ¢ stands for ‘ Gesell- 
schaft,’ which is the German for ‘Company.’ It is a cus- 
tomary contraction like our ‘Co.’ /, of course, stands for. 
‘Papier. Now for the Zg. Let us glance at our Continental 
Gazetteer.” He took down a heavy brown volume from his 
shelves. ‘ Eglow, Eglonitz—here we are, Egria, It is in a 
German-speaking country—in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 
‘Remarkable as being the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and 
for its numerous glass-factories and paper-mills.’ Ha, ha, my 
boy, what do you make of that?” His eyes sparkled, and he 
sent up a great blue triumphant cloud from his cigarette. 

“The paper was made in Bohemia,” I said. 

“ Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German, 
Do you note the peculiar construction of the sentence—‘ This 
account of you we have from all quarters received.’ A French- 


8 . ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


man or Russian could not have written that. It is the Ger- 
man who is so uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, 
therefore, to discover what is wanted by this German who 
writes upon Bohemian paper, and prefers wearing a mask to 
showing his face. And here he comes, if I am not mistaken, 
to resolve all our doubts.” 

As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses’ hoofs and 
grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at 
the bell. Holmes whistled. 

“A pair, by the sound,” said he. “Yes,” he continued, 
glancing out of the window. “A nice little brougham and a 
pair of beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There’s 
money in this case, Watson, if there is nothing else.” 

“J think that I had better go, Holmes.” 

“Not a bit, doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost with- 
out my Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It 
would be a pity to miss it.” 

“ But your client —” 

“Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. 
Here he comes. Sit down in that arm-chair, doctor, and give 
us your best attention.” 

A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the 
stairs and in the passage, paused immediately outside the 
door. Then there was a loud and authoritative tap. 

“Come in!” said Holmes. : 

A man entered who could hardly have been less than six 
feet six inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a 
Hercules. His dress was rich with a richness which would, 
in England, be looked upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy 
bands of Astrakhan were slashed across the sleeves and 
fronts of his double-breasted coat, while the deep blue cloak 
which was. thrown over his shoulders was lined with flame- 
colored silk, and secured at the neck with a brooch which 
consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended 
half-way up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops 
with rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric 


‘4 MAN ENTERED” 


A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 9 


opulence which was suggested by his whole appearance. He 
carried a broad-brimmed hat in his hand. while he wore across 
the upper part of his face, extending down past the cheek- 
bones, a black vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted 
that very moment, for his hand was still raised to it as he 
entered. From the lower part of the face he appeared to be 
a man of strong character, with a thick, hanging lip, and a 
long, straight chin, suggestive of resolution pushed to the 
length of obstinacy. 

“You had my note?” he asked, with a deep harsh voice 
and a strongly marked German accent. “I told you that I 
would call.” He looked from one to the other of us, as if un- 
certain which to address. 

“Pray take a seat,” said Holmes. ‘This is my friend and 
colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to 
help me in my cases. Whom have I the honor to address ?” 

“You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohe- 
mian nobleman. I understand that this gentleman, your 
friend, is a man of honor and discretion, whom I may trust 
with a matter of the most extreme importance. If not, I 
should much prefer to communicate with you alone.” 

I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed 
me back into my chair. “It is both, or none,” said he. 
“You may say before this gentleman anything which you may 
say to me.” 

The count shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘Then I must 
begin,” said he, “ by binding you both to absolute secrecy for 
two years, at the end of that time the matter will be of no 
importance. At present it is not too much to say that it is of 
such weight it may have an influence upon European history.” 

““T promise,” said Holmes. 

* And. 1.” 

“You will excuse this mask,” continued our strange visitor. 
“The august person who employs me wishes his agent to be 
unknown to you, and I may confess at once that the title by 
which I have just called myself is not exactly my own.” 


i fe) ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“I was aware of it,’ said Holmes, dryly. 

‘The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every pre- 
caution has to be taken to quench what might grow to be 
an immense scandal and seriously compromise one of the 
reigning families of Europe. To speak plainly, the matter 
implicates the great House of Ormstein, hereditary kings of 
Bohemia.” 

“T was also aware of that,’ murmured Holmes, settling 
himself down in his arm-chair and closing his eyes. 

Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the 
languid, lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt 
depicted to him as the most incisive reasoner and most ener- 
getic agent in Europe. Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and 
looked impatiently at his gigantic client. 

“If your Majesty would condescend to state your case,” he 
remarked, “I should be better able to advise you.” 

The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down 
the room in uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of 
desperation, he tore the mask from his face and hurled it 
upon the ground. “You are right,” he cried; “I am the 
King. Why should I attempt to conceal it?” 

“Why, indeed?” murmured Holmes. ‘ Your Majesty had 
not spoken before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm 
Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel- 
Felstein, and hereditary King of Bohemia.” 

“ But you can understand,” said our strange visitor, sitting 
down once more and passing his hand over his high, white | 
forehead, ‘you can understand that I am not accustomed to 
doing such business in my own person. Yet the matter was 
so delicate that I could not confide it to an agent without 
putting myself in his power. I have come incognito from 
Prague for the purpose of consulting you.” 

“Then, pray consult,” said Holmes, shutting his eyes once 
more. : 

“The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during 
a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the 


A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA II 


well-known adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt 
familiar to you.” 

“Kindly look her up in my index, doctor,’’ murmured 
Holmes, without opening his eyes. For many years he had 
adopted a system of docketing all paragraphs concerning men 
and things, so that it was difficult to name a subject or a per- 
son on which he could not at once furnish information. In 
this case I found her biography sandwiched in between that 
of a Hebrew Rabbi and that of a staff-commander who had 
written a monograph upon the deep-sea fishes. 

“Tet me see!” said Holmes. “Hum! Born in New 
Jersey in the year 1858. Contralto—hum! La Scala, hum! 
Prima donna Imperial Opera of Warsaw—Yes! Retired from 
operatic stage—ha! Living in London—quite so! Your 
Majesty, as I understand, became entangled with this young 
_ person, wrote her some compromising letters, and is now desir- 
ous of getting those letters back.” 

“Precisely so. But how—” 

“Was there a secret marriage?” 

“None.” 

‘No legal papers or certificates ?” 

“None.” 

“Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person 
should produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, 
how is she to prove their authenticity ?” 

“ There is the writing.” 

“Pooh, pooh! Forgery.” 

“My private note-paper.” 

* Stolen.” 

“ My own seal.” 

“ Tmitated.” 

“My photograph.” 

“ Bought.” 

“We were both in the photograph.” 

“Oh dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed 
committed an indiscretion.” 


12 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


““T was mad—insane.” 

“You have compromised yourself seriously.” 

“IT was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but 
thirty now.” . 

“Tt must be recovered.” 

“We have tried and failed.” 

“Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought.” 

“ She will not sell.” 

* Stolen, then.” 

“Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my 
pay ransacked her house. Once we diverted her luggage 
when she travelled. ‘Twice she has been waylaid. There has 
_ been no result.” 

“No sign of it ?” 

“ Absolutely none.” 

Holmes laughed. “It is quite a pretty little problem,” 
said he. 

“But a very serious one to me,” returned the King, re- 
proachfully. 

“Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the 
photograph ?” 

“To ruin me.” 

* But how?” 

“I am about to be married.” 

‘So I have heard.” 

“To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter 
of the King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict prin- 
ciples of her family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. 
A shadow of a doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter 
to an end.” 

“ And Irene Adler ?” 

“Threatens to send them the photograph. And she 
will do it. I know that she will do it. You do not know 
her, but she has a soul of steel. She has the face of 
the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most 
resolute of men. Rather than I should marry another 


A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 13 


woman, there are no lengths to which she would not go— 
none.” 

“You are sure that she has not sent it yet ?” 

*T am sure.” 

“ And why?” 

“Because she has said that she would send it on the day 
when the betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be 
next Monday.” 

“Oh, then, we have three days yet,” said Holmes, with a 
yawn. “That is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters 
of importance to look into just at present. Your Majesty will, 
of course, stay in London for the present?” 

“Certainly. You will find me at the Langham, under the 
name of the Count Von Kramm.” 

Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we 
progress.” 

“Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety.” 

“Then, as to money ?” 

“You have carte blanche.” 

“ Absolutely ?” 

“T tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my 
kingdom to have that photograph.” 

“ And for present expenses ?” 

The king took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his 
cloak and laid it on the table. 

“There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hun- 
dred in notes,” he said. 

Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note- book 
and handed it to him. 

“ And mademoiselle’s address ?” he asked. 

“Ts Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John’s Wood.” 

Holmes took a note of it. ‘One other question,” said he. 
“Was the photograph a cabinet ?” 

“It was.” 

“ Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall 
soon have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson,” 


14 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


he added, as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down 
the street. ‘If you will be good enough to call to-morrow 
afternoon, at three o’clock, I should like to chat this little 
matter over with you.” 


II 


AT three o’clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes 
had not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had 
left the house shortly after eight o’clock in the morning. I 
sat down beside the fire, however, with the intention of await- 
ing him, however long he might be. I was already deeply 
interested in his inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by 
none of the grim and strange features which were associated 
with the two crimes which I have already recorded, still, the 
nature of the case and the exalted station of his client gave 
it a character of its own. Indeed, apart from the nature of the 
investigation which my friend had on hand, there was some- 
thing in his masterly grasp of a situation, and his keen, inci- 
sive reasoning, which made it a pleasure to me to study his 
system of work, and to follow the quick, subtle methods by 
which he disentangled the most inextricable mysteries. So 
accustomed was I to his invariable success that the very pos- 
sibility of his failing had ceased to enter into my head. 

It was close upon four before the door opened, and a 
drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an 
inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. 
Accustomed as I was to my friend’s amazing powers in the 
use of disguises, I had to look three times before I was cer- 
tain that it was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the 
bedroom, whence he emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and 
respectable, as of old. Putting his hands into his pockets, he 
stretched out his legs in front of the fire, and laughed heartily 
for some minutes. 

“Well, really!” he cried, and then he choked; and laughed 


A SCANDAL IN- BOHEMIA I5 


again until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the 
chair. 

“What is it ?” 

“Tt’s quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess 
how I employed my morning, or what I ended by doing.” 

“T can’t imagine. I suppose that you have been watching 
the habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler.” 

“Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell 
you, however. I left the house a little after eight o’clock this 
morning, in the character of a groom out of work. There is 
a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. 
Be one of them, and you will know all that there is to know. 
I soon found Briony Lodge. It is a di7ou villa, with a garden 
at the back, but built out in front right up to the road, two 
stories. Chubb lock to the door. Large sitting-room on the 
right side, well furnished, with long windows almost to the 
floor, and those preposterous English window fasteners which 
a child could open. Behind there was nothing remarkable, 
save that the passage window could be reached from the top 
of the coach-house. I walked round it and examined it closely 
from every point of view, but without noting anything else of 
interest. 

“T then lounged down the street, and found, as I expected, 
that there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall 
of the garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down 
their horses, and I received in exchange twopence, a glass of 
half-and-half, two fills of shag tobacco, and as much informa- 
tion as I could desire about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half 
a dozen other people in the neighborhood in whom I was not 
in the least interested, but whose biographies I was compelled 
to listen to.” 

“And what of Irene Adler?” I asked. 

“Oh, she has turned all the men’s heads down in that part. 
She is the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So 
say the Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings 
at concerts, drives out at five every day, and returns at seven 


16 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


sharp for dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except 
when she sings. Has only one male visitor, but a good deal 
of him. He is dark, handsome, and dashing, never calls less 
than once a day, and often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Nor- 
ton, of the Inner Temple. See the advantages of a cabman 
as a confidant. They had driven him home a dozen times 
from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. When I had 
listened to all that they had to tell, I began to walk up and 
down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my 
plan of campaign. : 

“This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in 
the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What 
was the relation between them, and what the object of his 
repeated visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? 
If the former, she had probably transferred the photograph to 
his keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of 
this question depended whether I should continue my work 
at Briony Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman’s 
chambers in the Temple. It was a delicate point, and it 
widened the field of my inquiry. I fear that I bore you with 
these details, but I have to let you see my little difficulties, if 
you are to understand the situation.” 

“‘T am following you closely,” I answered. 

“IT was still balancing the matter in my mind, when a han- | 
som cab drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang 
out. He was a remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and 
mustached — evidently the man of whom I had heard. He 
appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, 
and brushed past the maid who opened the door with the air 
of a man who was thoroughly at home. 

“‘ He was in the house about half an hour, and I could cick 
glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing 
up and down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of 
her I could see nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even 
more flurried than before. As he stepped up to the cab, he 
pulled a gold watch from his pocket and looked at it earnestly. 


A SCANDAL IN_ BOHEMIA 17 


‘ Drive like the devil,’ he shouted, ‘first to Gross & Hankey’s 
in Regent Street, and then to the church of St. Monica in the 
Edgware Road. Half a guinea if you do it in twenty min- 
utes !’ 

“* Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I 
should not do well to follow them, when up the lane came a 
neat little landau, the coachman with his coat only half-but- 
toned, and his tie under his ear, while all the tags of his 
harness were sticking out of the buckles. It hadn’t pulled up 
before she shot out of the hall door and into it. I only caught 
a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was.a lovely woman, 
with a face that a man might die for. 

“¢The Church of St. Monica, John,’ she cried, ‘and half a 
sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.’ 

“This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just 
balancing whether I should run for it, or whether I should 
perch behind her landau, when a cab came through the street. 
The driver looked twice at such a shabby fare ; but I jumped 
in before he could object. ‘The Church of St. Monica,’ said 
I, ‘and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.’ 
It was twenty-five minutes to twelve, and of course it was 
clear enough what was in the wind. 

“My cabby drove fast. I don’t think I ever drove faster, 
but the others were there before us. The cab and the landau 
with their steaming horses were in front of the door when I 
arrived. I paid the man and hurried into the church. There 
was not a soul there save the two whom I had followed and a 
surpliced clergyman, who seemed to be expostulating with 
them. They were all three standing in a knot in front of the 
altar. I lounged up the side aisle like any other idler who has 
dropped into a church. Suddenly, to my surprise, the three 
at the altar faced round to me, and Godfrey Norton came 
running as hard as he could towards me.” 

“Thank God!” he cried. “ You’lldo. Come! Come!” 

“What then?” I asked. 


“Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won’t be legal.” 
2 : 


18 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


I was half-dragged up to the altar, and, before I knew 
where I was, I found myself mumbling responses which were 
whispered in my ear, and vouching for things of which I knew 
nothing, and generally assisting in the secure tying up of 
Irene Adler, spinster, to Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was 
all done in an instant, and there was the gentleman thanking 
me on the one side and the lady on the other, while the 
clergyman beamed on me in front. It was the most prepos- 
terous position in which I ever found myself in my life, and it 
was the thought of it that started me laughing just now. It 
seems that there had been some informality about their license, 
that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them without 
a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance saved 
the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in 
search of a best man. ‘The bride gave me a sovereign, and I 
mean to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occa- 
sion.” : 

“This is a very unexpected turn of affairs,” said I; “and 
what then ?” | 

“Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked 
as if the pair might take an immediate departure, and so 
necessitate very prompt and energetic measures on my part. 
At the church door, however, they separated, he driving back 
to the Temple, and she to her own house. ‘I shall drive out 
in the park at five as usual,’ she said, as she left him. I heard 
no more. They drove away in different directions, and I 
went off to make my own arrangements.” 

“Which are ?” 

“Some cold beef and a glass of beer,” he answered, ring- 
ing the bell. “I have been too busy to think of food, and I am 
likely to be busier still this evening. By the way, doctor, I 
shall want your co-operation.” 

“‘T shall be delighted.” 

‘“‘You don’t mind breaking the law?” 

‘“* Not in the least.” 

“Nor running a chance of arrest?” 


A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 19 


“ Not in a good cause.” 

“Oh, the cause is excellent !’ 

“Then I am your man.” 

“‘T was sure that I might rely on you.” 

“ But what is it you wish ?” 

“When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it 
clear to you. Now,” he said, as he turned hungrily on the 
simple fare that our landlady had provided, “I must discuss 
it while I eat, for I have not much time. It is nearly five 
now. In two hours we must be on the scene of action. 
Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns from her drive at 
seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her.” 

“¢ And what then ?” 

“You must leave that to me. I have already arranged 
what is to occur. ‘There is only one point on which I must 
insist. You must not interfere, come what may. You under- 


. stand?” 


*‘T am to be neutral ?” 

“To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some 
small unpleasantness. Do not join in it. . It will end in my 
being conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes after- 
wards the sitting-room window will open. You are to station 
yourself close to that open window.” 

=¥es,” 

“You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you.” 

eas)" 

“ And when I raise my hand—so—you will throw into the 
room what I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, 
raise the cry of fire. You quite follow me?” 

“Entirely.” 

“It is nothing very formidable,” he said, taking a long 
cigar-shaped roll from his pocket. “It is an ordinary plumb- 
er’s smoke-rocket, fitted with a cap at either end to make it 
self-lighting. Your task is confined to that. When you raise 
your cry of fire, it will be taken up by quite a number of peo- 
ple. You may then walk to the end of the street, and I will 


20 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


rejoin you in ten minutes. I hope that I have made myself 
clear ?” 

“T am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch 
you, and, at the signal, to throw in this object, then to raise 
the cry of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street.” 

“ Precisely.” 

“Then you may entirely rely on me.” 

“That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that 
I prepare for the new role I have to play.” 

He disappeared into his bedroom, and returned in a few 
minutes in the character of an amiable and simple-minded 
Nonconformist clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy 
trousers, his white tie, his sympathetic smile, and general 
look of peering and benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. 
John Hare alone could have equalled. It was not merely 
that Holmes changed his costume. His expression, his man- 
ner, his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part that 
he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost 
an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime. 

It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it 
still wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves 
in Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps 
were just being lighted as we paced up and down in front of 
Briony Lodge, waiting for the coming of its occupant. The 
house was just such as I had pictured it from Sherlock 
Holmes’ succinct description, but the locality appeared to be 
less private that I expected. On the contrary, for a small 
street in a quiet neighborhood, it was*remarkably animated. 
There was a group of shabbily-dressed men smoking and 
laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his wheel, two 
guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and several 
well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with 
cigars in their mouths. 

“You see,’ remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in 
front of the house, “this marriage rather simplifies matters. 
The photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now, The 


A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 2I 


chances are that she would be as averse to its being seen by 
Mr. Godfrey Norton, as our client is to its coming to the 
eyes of his princess. Now the question is, Where are we to 
find the photograph ?” : 

“Where, indeed ?” 

“Tt is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It 
is cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a 
woman’s dress. She knows that the King is capable of hav- 
ing her waylaid and searched. ‘Two attempts of the sort have 
already been made. We may take it, then, that she does not 
carry it about with her,” 

‘ Where, then ?” 

“Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double pos- 
sibility. But I am inclined to think neither. Women are 
naturally secretive, and they like to do their own secreting. 
Why should she hand it over to any one else? She could 
trust her own guardianship, but she could not tell what indi- 
rect or political influence might be brought to bear upon a 
business man. Besides, remember that she had resolved to 
use it within a few days. It must be where she can lay her 
hands upon it. It must be in her own house.” 

“But it has twice been burgled.” 

“Pshaw! They did not know how to look.” 

* But how will you look ?” 

“T will not look.” 

“What then ?” 

“T will get her to show me.” 

“ But she will refuse.” 

“She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. 
It is her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter.” 

As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came 
round the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau 
which rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled 
up, one of the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to 
open the door in the hope of earning a copper, but was el- 
bowed away by another loafer, who had rushed up with the 


22 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


same intention. A fierce quarrel broke out, which was in- 
creased by the two guardsmen, who took sides with one of the 
loungers, and by the scissors- grinder, who was equally hot 
upon the other side. A blow was struck, and in an instant 
the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was the centre 
of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who struck 
savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes 
dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he 
reached her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with 
the blood running freely down his face. At his fall the 
guardsmen took to their heels in one direction and the loung- 
ers in the other, while a number of better dressed people, 
who had watched the scuffle without taking part in it, crowded 
in to help the lady and to attend to the injured man. Irene 
Adler, as I will still call her, had hurried up the steps; but 
she stood at the top with her superb figure outlined against 
the lights of the hall, looking back into the street. 

“Ts the poor gentleman much hurt?” she asked. 

“ He is dead,” cried several voices. 

“No, no, there’s life in him!” shouted another. ‘ But he’ll 
be gone before you can get him to hospital.” 

“ He’s a brave fellow,” said a woman. “They would have 
had the lady’s purse and watch if it hadn’t been for him. 
They were a gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he’s breathing 
now.” | 

“He can’t lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm ?” 

“Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a 
comfortable sofa. ‘This way, please !” 

Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and 
laid out in the principal room, while I still observed the pro- 
ceedings from my post by the window. ‘The lamps had been 
lit, but the blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see 
Holmes as he lay upon the couch. I do not know whether 
he was seized with compunction at that moment for the part 
he was playing, but I know that I never felt more heartily 
ashamed of myself in my life than when I saw the beautiful 


A SCANDAL IN_- BOHEMIA 23 


creature against whom I was conspiring, or the grace and 
kindliness with which she waited upon the injured man. And 
yet it would be the blackest treachery to Holmes to draw 
back now from the part which he had intrusted to me. I 
hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under 
my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We 
are but preventing her from injuring another. 

Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion 
like a man who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and 
threw open the window. At the same instant I saw him raise 
his hand, and at the signal I tossed my rocket into the room 
with a cry of “ Fire!’ The word was no sooner out of my 
mouth than the whole crowd of spectators, well dressed and 
ill— gentlemen, ostlers, and servant-maids— joined in a gen- 
eral shriek of “Fire!” Thick clouds of smoke curled through 
the room and out at the open window. I caught a glimpse 
of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice of Holmes 
from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. Slipping 
through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner of 
the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my friend’s 
arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. He 
walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes, until we 
had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards 
the Edgware Road. 

“You did it very nicely, doctor,” he remarked. ‘“ Nothing 
could have been better. It is all right.” 

“You have the photograph ?” 

“T know where it is.” 

“ And how did you find out ?” 

‘She showed me, as I told you that she would.” 

“T am still in the dark.” 

“TI do not wish to make a mystery,” said he, laughing. 
“The matter was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that 
every one in the street was an accomplice. They were all en- 
gaged for the evening.” 

“TI guessed as much.” 


24 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red 
paint in the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, 
clapped my hand to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. 
It is an old trick.” | 

“That also I could fathom.” 

“Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. 
What else could she do? And into her sitting-room, which 
was the very room which I suspected. It lay between that 
and her bedroom, and I was determined to see which. They 
laid me on a couch, I motioned for air, they were compelled 
to open the window, and you had your chance.” 

“ How did that help you?” 

“It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her 
house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing 
which she values most. It is a perfectly overpowering im- 
pulse, and I have more than once taken advantage of it. In 
the case of the Darlington Substitution Scandal it was of use 
to me, and also in the Arnsworth Castle business. A married 
woman grabs at her baby; an unmarried one reaches for her 
jewel-box. Now it was clear to me that our lady of to-day 
had nothing in the house more precious to her than what we 
are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. The alarm of 
fire was admirably done. ‘The smoke and shouting were 
enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. 
The photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just 
above the right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I 
caught a glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried 
out that it was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the 
rocket, rushed from the room, and I have not seen her since. 
I rose, and, making my excuses, escaped from the house. I 
hesitated whether to attempt to secure the photograph at 
once; but the coachman had come in, and as he was watch- 
ing me narrowly, it seemed safer to wait. A little over-pre- 
cipitance may ruin all.” 

* And now?” I asked. 

“Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the 


A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 25 


King to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. 
We will be shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, 
but it is probable that when she comes she may find neither 
us nor the photograph. It might be a satisfaction to His 
Majesty to regain it with his own hands.” 

“ And when will you call ?” 

“ At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we 
shall have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this 
marriage may mean a complete change in her life and habits. 
I must wire to the King without delay.” 

We had reached Baker Street, and had stopped at the door. 
He was searching his pockets for the key, when some one 
passing said: 

“‘Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes.” 

There were several people on the pavement at the time, but 
the greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster 
who had hurried by. 

“T’ve heard that voice before,” said Holmes, staring down 
the dimly-lit street. ‘Now, I wonder who the deuce that 
could have been.” 


III 


I stept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged 
upon our toast and coffee in the morning when the King of 
Bohemia rushed into the room. 

“You have really got it!” he cried, grasping Sherlock 
Holmes by either shoulder, and looking eagerly into his face. 

“Not yet.” 

“‘ But you have hopes ?” 

“I have hopes.” 

“Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone.” 

“We must have a cab.” 

“No, my brougham is waiting.” 

“Then that will simplify matters.” We descended, and 
started off once more for Briony Lodge. 


26 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“‘Trene Adler is married,” remarked Holmes. 

“Married! When?” | 

“Yesterday.” 

“ But to whom ?” 

“To an English lawyer named Norton.” 

“But she could not love him ?” 

“‘T am in hopes that she does.” 

“* And why in hopes ?” 

“Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future an- 
noyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love 
your Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no 
reason why she should interfere with your Majesty’s plan.” 

“Tt is true. And yet— Well! I wish she had been of 
my.own station! What a queen she would have made!” He 
relapsed into a moody silence, which was not broken until we 
drew up in Serpentine Avenue. 

The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman 
stood upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye 
as we stepped from the brougham. 

“Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe ?” said she. 

“TJ am Mr. Holmes,” answered my companion, looking at 
her with a questioning and rather startled gaze. 

“Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. 
She left this morning with her husband by the 5.15 train from 
Charing Cross for the Continent.” 

“What!” Sherlock Holmes eaeered back, white with 
chagrin and surprise. “Do you mean that she has left Eng- 
land ?” 

“ Never to return.” 

‘And the papers ?” asked the King, hoarsely. “All is lost.” 

“We shall see.” He pushed past the servant and rushed 
into the drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The 
furniture was scattered about in every direction, with disman- 
tled shelves and open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly 
ransacked them before her flight. Holmes rushed at the 
bell-pull, tore back a small sliding shutter, and, plunging in his 


A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 27 


hand, pulled out a photograph and a letter. The photograph 
was of Irene Adler herself in evening dress, the letter was 
superscribed to “ Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called 
for.” My friend tore it open, and we all three read it togeth- 
er. It was dated at midnight of the preceding night, and ran 
in this way: 


“My Dear Mr. SHERLOCK HoLmeEs,—You really did it 
very well. You took me in completely. Until after the alarm 
of fire, I had not a suspicion. But then, when I found how I 
had betrayed myself, I began to think. I had been warned 
against you months ago. I had been told that, if the King 
employed an agent, it would certainly be you. And your ad- 
dress had been given me. Yet, with all this, you made me re- 
veal what you wanted to know. Even after I became suspi- 
cious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind old 
clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress 
myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take 
advantage of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the 
coachman, to watch you, ran up-stairs, got into my walking- 
clothes, as I call them, and came down just as you departed. 

“Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that 
I was really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sher- 
lock Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good- 
night, and started for the Temple to see my husband. 

“We both thought the best resource was flight, when pur- 
sued by so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the 
nest empty when you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, 
your client may rest in peace. I love and am loved by a bet- 
ter man than he. The King may do what he will without 
hinderance from one whom he has cruelly wronged. I keep 
it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which 
will always secure me from any steps which he might take in 
the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to 
possess ; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, very truly 
yours, IRENE NORTON, 7ée ADLER.” 


28 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“What a woman—oh, what a woman!” cried the King of 
Bohemia, when we had all three read this epistle. “Did I 
not tell you how quick and resolute she was? Would she not 
have made an admirable queen? Is it not a pity that she 
was not on my level ?” 

“From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to 
be on a very different level to your Majesty,” said Holmes, 
coldly. “TI am sorry that I have not been able to bring your 
Majesty’s business to a more successful conclusion.” 

“On the contrary, my dear sir,” cried the King; “noth- 
ing could be more successful. I know that her word is invi- 
olate. The photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire.” 

“T am glad to hear your Majesty say so.” 

“T am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what 
way I can reward you. This ring—” He slipped an emerald 
snake ring from his finger and held it out upon the palm of 
his hand. 

“Your Majesty has something which I should value even 
more highly,” said Holmes. 

“You have but to name it.” 

“This photograph !” 

The King stared at him in amazement. 

“Trene’s photograph!” he cried. “Certainly, if you wish it.” 

“T thank your Majesty. Thenthere is no more to be done 
in the matter. I have the honor to wish you a very good- 
morning.” He bowed, and, turning away without observing 
the hand which the King had stretched out to him, he set off 
in my company for his chambers. 


And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the 
kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock 
Holmes were beaten by a woman’s wit. He used to make 
merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard 
him do it of late. And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or 
when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the hon- 
orable title of she woman. 


Hodventure WT 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 


~) HAD called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, 
}EXV¥> one day in the autumn of last year, and found him 
A\ in deep conversation with a very stout, florid-faced, 
iC elderly gentleman, with fiery red hair. With an 
aloes ‘for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw, when 
Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the 
_ door behind me. 

“You could not possibly have come at a better time, my 
dear Watson,” he said, cordially. 

“T was afraid that you were engaged.” 

“SolIam. Very much so,” 

“Then I can wait in the next room.” 

“Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my 
partner and helper in many of my most successful cases, and 
I have no doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in 
yours also.” 

The stout gentleman half-rose from his chair and gave a 
bob of greeting, with a quick, little, questioning glance from 
his small, fat-encircled eyes. 

“ Try the settee,” said Holmes, relapsing into his arm-chair 
and putting his finger-tips together, as was his custom when 
in judicial moods. “I know, my dear Watson, that you share 
my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and 
humdrum routine of every-day life. You have shown your 
relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to 
chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to 
embellish so many of my own little adventures,” 


30 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to 
me,” I observed. 

“You will remember that I remarked the other day, just 
before we went into the very simple problem presented by 
Miss Mary Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraor- 
dinary combinations we must go to life itself, which is always 
far more daring than any effort of the imagination.” 

“‘A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting.” 

“You did, doctor, but none the less you must come round 
to my view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact 
on you, until your reason breaks down under them and ac- 
knowledges me to be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has 
been good enough to call upon me this morning, and to begin 
a narrative which promises to be one of the most singular 
which I have listened to for some time. You have heard me 
remark that the strangest and most unique things are very 
often connected not with the larger but with the smaller 
crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for 
doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As 
far as I have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the 
present case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of 
events is certainly among the most singular that I have ever 
listened to. Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great 
kindness to recommence your narrative. I ask you, not 
merely because my friend Dr. Watson has not heard the 
opening part, but also because the peculiar nature of the story 
makes me anxious to have every possible detail from your 
lips. As arule, when I have heard some slight indication of 
the course of events, I am able to guide myself by the thou- 
sands of other similar cases which occur to my memory. In 
the present instance I am forced to admit that the facts are, 
to the best of my belief, unique.” 

The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of 
some little pride, and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper 
from the inside pocket of his great-coat. As he glanced down 
the advertisement column, with his head thrust forward, and 


o 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 31 


the paper flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at 
the man, and endeavored, after the fashion of my companion, 
to read the indications which might be presented by his dress 
or appearance. 

I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our 
visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace 
British tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather 
baggy gray shepherd’s check trousers, a not over-clean black 
frock-coat, unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with 
a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal 
dangling down as an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded 
brown overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair 
beside him. Altogether, look as I would, there was nothing 
remarkable about the man save his blazing red head, and the 
expression of extreme chagrin and discontent upon his feat- 
ures. 

Sherlock Holmes’s quick eye took in my occupation, and he 
shook his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning 
glances. “ Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time 
done manual labor, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, 
that he has been in China, and that he has done a consid- 
erable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.” 

Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger 
upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. 

“ How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, 
Mr. Holmes?” he asked. ‘ How did you know, for example, 


that I did manual labor. It’s as true as gospel, for I began 
as a ship’s carpenter.” 

“Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size 
larger than your left. You have worked with it, and the 
muscles are more developed.” 

“ Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry ?” 

“T won’t insult your intelligence by telling you how I read 
that, especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, 
you use an arc-and-compass breastpin.” 

“ Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing ?” 


32 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very 
shiny for five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch 
near the elbow where you rest it upon the desk.” 

* Well, but China ?” 

“The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your 
right wrist could only have been done in China. I have made 
a small study of tattoo marks, and have even contributed to 
the literature of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes’ 
scales of a delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in 
addition, I see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, 
the matter becomes even more simple.” | 

Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. ‘Well, I never!” said 
he. “I thought at first that you had done something clever, | 
but I see that there was nothing in it, after all.” 

“y begin to think, Watson,” said Holmes, “that I make a 
mistake in explaining. ‘Omne ignotum pro magnifico,’ you 
know,.and my poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer 
shipwreck if I am so candid. Can you not find the advertise- 
ment, Mr. Wilson ?” 

“Ves, I have got it now,” he answered, with his thick, red 
finger planted half-way down the column. “ Here itis. This 
is what began it all. You just read it for yourself, sir.” 

I took the paper from him, and read as follows : 


“To THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the be- 
quest of the late Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pa., U.S.A., 
there is now another vacancy open which entitles a member 
of the League to a salary of £4 a week for purely nominal 
services. All red-headed men who are sound in body and 
mind, and above the age of twenty-one years, are eligible. Ap- 
ply in person on Monday, at eleven o’clock, to Duncan Ross, 
at the offices of the League, 7 Pope’s Court, Fleet Street.” 


“ What on earth does this mean ?” I ejaculated, after I had 
twice read over the extraordinary announcement. 

Holmes chuckled, and wriggled in his chair, as was his 
habit when in high spirits. “It is a little off the beaten 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 33 


track, isn’t it?” said he. “And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go 
at scratch, and tell us all about yourself, your household, and 
the effect which this advertisement had upon your fortunes. 
You will first make a note, doctor, of the paper and the 
date.” 

“Tt is Zhe Morning Chronide, of April 27, 1890. Just two 
months ago.” 

“Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson ?” 

“Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock 
Holmes,” said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; “I have 
a small pawnbroker’s business at Coburg Square, near the 
city. It’s not a very large affair, and of late years it has not 
done more than just give me a living. I used to be able to 
keep two assistants, but now I only keep one ; and I would 
have a job to pay him, but that he is willing to come for half 
wages, so as to learn the business.” 

“What is the name of this obliging youth?” asked Sherlock 
Holmes. 

“His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he’s not such a youth, 
either. It’s hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter 
assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could 
better himself, and earn twice what I am able to give him. 
But, after all, if he is satished, why should I put ideas in his 
head ?” 

“Why, indeed ?”” You seem most fortunate in having an 
employé who comes under the full market price. It is not a 
common experience among employers in this age. I don’t 
know that your assistant is not as remarkable as your adver- 
tisement.” 

“Oh, he has his faults, too,” said Mr. Wilson. ‘“ Never 
was such a fellow for photography. Snapping away with a 
camera when he ought to be improving his mind, and then 
diving down into the cellar like a rabbit into its hole to de- 
velope his pictures. That is his main fault; but, on the 
whole, he’s a good worker. There’s no vice in him.” 


“ He is still with you, I presume ?” 
3 


34 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Ves, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of 
simple cooking, and keeps the place clean—that’s all I have 
in the house, for I am a widower, and never had any family. 
We live very quietly, sir, the three of us ; and we keep a roof 
over our heads, and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. 

“The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. 
Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight 
weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says : 

“‘¢T wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed 
man.’ 

“¢¢Why that?’ I asks. 

““¢ Why,’ says he, ‘here’s another vacancy on the League of 
the Red-headed Men. It’s worth quite a little fortune to any 
man who gets it, and I understand that there are more vacan- 
cies than there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits’ 
end what to do with the money. If my hair would only change 
color, here’s a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.’ 

““¢Why, what is it, then?’ I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I 
am a very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me 
instead of my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end 
without putting my foot over the door-mat. In that way I 
didn’t know much of what was going on outside, and I was 
always glad of a bit of news. 

“« Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed 
Men ?’ he asked, with his eyes open. . 

“* ¢ Never.’ 

““«Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for 
one of the vacancies.’ 

“¢ And what are they worth ?’ I asked. 

““*Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is 
slight, and it need not interfere very much with one’s other 
occupations.’ 

“ Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my 
ears, for the business has not been over-good for some years, 
and an extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. 

“*Tell me all about it,’ said I. 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 35 


“«¢ Well,’ said he, showing me the advertisement, ‘you can 
see for yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is 
the address where you should apply for particulars. As far as 
I can make out, the League was founded by an American 
millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his 
ways. He was himself red-headed, and he had a great sym- 
pathy for all red-headed men; so, when he died, it was found 
that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands of trustees, 
with instructions to apply the interest to the providing of easy 
berths to men whose hair is of that color. From all I hear it 
is splendid pay, and very little to do.’ 

“< But,’ said I, ‘there would be millions of red-headed men 
who would apply.’ 

“Not so many as you might think,’ he answered. ‘ You 
see it is really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. 
This American had started from London when he was young, 
and he wanted to do the old town a good turn. Then, again, 
I have heard it is no use your applying if your hair is light 
red, or dark red, or anything but real bright, blazing, fiery red. 
Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Wilson, you would just walk in; 
but perhaps it would hardly be worth your while to put your- 
self out of the way for the sake of a few hundred pounds.’ 

“‘ Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, 
that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed 
to me that, if there was to be any competition in the matter, I 
stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. 
Vincent Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I 
thought he might prove useful, so I just ordered him to put 
up the shutters for the day, and to come right away with me. 
He was very willing to have a holiday, so we shut the business 
up, and started off for the address that was given us in the 
advertisement. 

“T never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. 
From north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade 
of red in his hair had tramped into the city to answer the 
advertisement. Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, 


36 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


and Pope’s Court looked like a coster’s orange barrow. I 
should not have thought there were so many in the whole 
country as were brought together by that single advertise- 
ment. Every shade of color they were—straw, lemon, orange, 
brick, Irish- setter, liver, clay; but, as Spaulding said, there 
were not many who had the real vivid flame-colored tint. 
When I saw how many were waiting, I would have given it up 
in despair; but Spaulding would not hear of it. How he did 
it I could not imagine, but he pushed and pulled and butted 
until he got me through the crowd, and right up to the steps 
which led to the office. There was a double stream upon the 
stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back dejected ; 
but we wedged in as well as we could, and soon found our- 
selves in the office.” 

“Your experience has been a most entertaining one,” re- 
marked Holmes, as his client paused and refreshed his mem- 
ory with a huge pinch of snuff. “ Pray continue your very 
interesting statement.” 

“There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden 
chairs and a deal table, behind which sat a small man, with a 
head that was even redder than mine. He said a few words 
to each candidate as he came up, and then he always managed 
to find some fault in them which would disqualify them. Get- 
ting a vacancy did not seem to be such a very easy matter, 
after all. However, when our turn came, the little man was 
much more favorable to me than to any of the others, and he 
closed the door as we entered, so that he might have a private 
word with us. 

““«This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,’ said my assistant, ‘and he is 
willing to fill a vacancy in the League.’ 

“¢ And he is admirably suited for it,’ the other answered. 
‘He has every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen 
anything so fine.’ He took a step backward, cocked his head 
on one side, and gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. 
Then suddenly he plunged forward, wrung my hand, and con- 
gratulated me warmly on my success. 


THE RED-HEADED- LEAGUE 37 


““¢Tt would be injustice to hestitate,’ said he. ‘You will, 
however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precau- 
tion.’ With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and 
tugged until I yelled with the pain. ‘There is water in your 
eyes,’ said he, as he released me. ‘I perceive that all is as it 
should be. But we have to be careful, for we have twice been 
deceived by wigs and once by paint. I could tell you tales of 
cobbler’s wax which would disgust you with human nature.’ 
He stepped over to the window, and shouted through it at the 
top of his voice that the vacancy was filled. A groan of dis- 

‘appointment came up from below, and the folk all trooped 
away in different directions, until there was not a red head to 
be seen except my own and that of the manager. 

«My name,’ said he, ‘is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am my- 
self one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble 
benefactor. Are you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you 
a family ?’ 

“‘T answered that I had not. 

“ His face fell immediately. 

*¢ Dear me!’ he said, gravely, ‘that is very serious indeed ! 
I am sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, 
for the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for 
their maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you 
should be a bachelor.’ 

“My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought 
that I was not to have the vacancy after all; but, after 
thinking it over for a few minutes, he said that it would be 
all right. 

“**Tn the case of another,’ said he, ‘the objection might be 
fatal, but we must stretch a point in favor of a man with such 
a head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter 

upon your new duties ?’ 

“*Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,’ 
said I. : 

“¢QOh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson! said Vincent 
Spaulding. ‘I shall be able to look after that for you.’ 


38 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“«¢ What would be the hours?’ I asked. 

“**’Ten to two.’ 

“Now a pawnbroker’s business is mostly done of an even- 
ing, Mr. Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, 
which is just before pay-day; so it would suit me very well 
to earn a little in the mornings. Besides, I knew that my 
assistant was a good man, and that he would see to anything 
that turned up. 

“¢That would suit me very well,’ said I. ‘And the pay?’ 

“*Ts £4 a week.” 

“¢ And the work ?” 

“¢Ts purely nominal.” 

*«¢What do-you call purely nominal ?’ 

- “Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the 
building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole 
position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. 
You don’t comply with the conditions if you budge from the 
office during that time.’ 

“¢Tt’s only four hours a day, and IJ should not think of 
leaving,’ said I. 

“¢No excuse will avail,’ said Mr. Duncan Ross, ‘neither 
sickness nor business nor anything else. There you must 
stay, or you lose your billet.’ 

“«¢ And the work ?” 

“<Ts to copy out the “ Encyclopzedia Britannica.” There 
is the first volume of it in that press. You must find your 
own ink, pens, and blotting-paper, but we provide this table 
and chair. Will you be ready to-morrow ?” 

“¢ Certainly,’ I answered. 

“<«Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratu- 
late you once more on the important position which you 
have been-fortunate enough to gain.’ He bowed me out of 
the room, and I went home with my assistant, hardly know- 
ing what to say or do, I was so pleased at my own good 
fortune. 

“Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I . 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 39 


was in low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself 
that the whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, 
though what its object might be I could not imagine. It 
seemed altogether past belief that any one could make such 
a will, or that they would pay such a sum for doing anything 
so simple as copying out the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica.’ 
Vincent Spaulding did what he could to cheer me up, but by 
bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the whole thing. 
However, in the morning I determined to have a look at it 
anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a quill- 
pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for 
Pope’s Court. | 

“Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right 
as possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. 
Duncan Ross was there to see that I got fairly to work. He 
started me off upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he 
would drop in from time to time to see that all was right with 
me. At two o’clock he bade me good-day, complimented me 
upon the amount that I had written, and locked the door of 
the office after me. 

“This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday 
the manager came in and planked down four golden sov- 
ereigns for my week’s work. It was the same next week, and 
the same the week after. Every morning I was there at ten, 
and every afternoon I left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan 
Ross took to coming in only once of a morning, and then, af- 
ter.a time, he did not come in at all. ‘Still, of course, I never 
dared to leave the room for an instant, for I was not sure 
when he might come, and the billet was such a good one, 
and suited me so well, that I would not risk the loss of it. 

“Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written 
about Abbots and Archery and Armor and Architecture and 
Attica, and hoped with diligence that I might get on to the 
B’s before very long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I 
had pretty nearly filled a shelf with my writings. And then 
suddenly the whole business came to an end.” 


40 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“To an end?” 

“Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my 
work as usual at ten o’clock, but the door was shut and 
locked, with a little square of card-board hammered on to the 
middle of the panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read 
for yourself.” 

He held up a piece of white card-board about the size of a 
sheet of note-paper. It read in this fashion: 


“THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 
Is 
DISSOLVED. 


October 9, 1890.” 


Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement 
and the rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the 
affair so completely overtopped every other consideration 
that we both burst out into a roar of laughter. 

“T cannot see that there is anything very funny,” cried 
our client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. “If 
you can do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go else- 
where.” 

“No, no,” cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair 
from which he had half risen. “I really wouldn’t miss your 
case for the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But 
there is, if you will excuse my saying so, something just a 
little funny about it. »Pray what steps did you take when 
you found the card upon the door ?” 

“T was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then 
I called at the offices round, but none of them seemed to 
know anything about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who 
is an accountant living on the ground-floor, and I asked him 
if he could tell me what had become of the Red-headed 
League. He said that he had never heard of any such body. 
Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan Ross was. He answered 
that the name was new to him. 


« 
> 
z 


1Y MOomne 


ie 


o jprevwee 


nig 


”? 


THE DOOR WAS SHUT AND LOCKED 


“ce 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 4I 


**« Well,’ said I, ‘the gentleman at No. 4.’ 

“* What, the red-headed man ?’ 

ares. 

*** Oh,’ said he, ‘his name was William Morris. He was a 
solicitor, and was using my room as a temporary convenience 
until his new premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.’ 

***Where could I find him ?’ 

***Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 
17 King Edward Street, near St. Paul’s.’ 

““T started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address 
it was a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it 
had ever heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan 
Ross.” 

“ And what did you do then?” asked Hoimes. 

“T went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the ad- 
vice of my assistant. But he could not help me in any way. 
He could only say that if I waited I should hear by post. 
But that was not quite good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not 
wish to lose such a place without a struggle, so, as I had 
heard that you were good enough to give advice to poor folk 
who were in need of it, I came right away to you.” 

“ And you did very wisely,” said Holmes. ‘“ Your case is 
an exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look 
into it. From what you have told me I think that it is pos- 
sible that graver issues hang from it than might at first sight 


appear.” Au 

“Grave enough!” said Mr. Jabez Wilson. “Why, I have 
lost four pound a week.” 

“‘ As far as you are personally concerned,” remarked Holmes, 
“T do not see that you have any grievance against this ex- 
traordinary league. On the contrary, you are, as I under- 
stand, richer by some £30, to say nothing of the minute knowl- 
edge which you have gained on every subject which comes 
under the letter A. You have lost nothing by them.” 

“No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who 
they are, and what their object was in playing this prank—if 


42 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


it was a prank—upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for 
them, for it cost them two and thirty pounds.” 

“We shall endeavor to clear up these points for you. And, 
first, one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of 
yours who first called your attention to thé advertisement— 
how long had he been with you ?” 

“ About a month then.” 

“ How did he come ?” 

“In answer to an advertisement.”’ 

“Was he the only applicant?” 

“ No, I had a dozen.” 

“Why did you pick him ?” 

“Because he was handy, and would come cheap.” 

“ At half-wages, in fact.” 

Wes.” . 

“ What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding ?” 

“Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his 
face, though he’s not short of thirty. Has a white splash of 
acid upon his forehead.” 

Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. “I 
thought as much,” said he. “ Have you ever observed that 
his ears are pierced for earrings ?” 

“Yes, sir. He told me that a gypsy had done it for him 
when he was a lad.” 

“Hum !” said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. “He 
is still with you?” pe 

“Qh yes, sir; I have only just left him.” 

“And has your business been attended to in your absence ?” 

“ Nothing to complain of, sir. There’s never very much to 
do of a morning.” pee | 

“That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you 
an opinion.upon the subject in the course of a day or two. 
To-day is Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may 
come to a conclusion.” . 

“Well, Watson,” said Holmes, when our visitor had left us, 
“what do you make of it all?” 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 43 


“I make nothing of it,’ I answered, frankly. “It is a 
most mysterious business.” 

“As a rule,” said Holmes, “the more bizarre a thing is the 
less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, 
featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a com- 
monplace face is the most difficult to identify. But I must 
be prompt over this matter.” 

“What are you going to do, then?” I asked. 

“To smoke,” he answered. “It is quite a three-pipe 
problem, and I beg that you won’t speak to me for fifty min- 
utes.” He curled himself up in his chair, with his thin knees 
drawn up to his hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes 
closed and his black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of 
some strange bird. I had come to the conclusion that he 
had dropped asleep, and indeed was nodding myself, when he 
suddenly sprang out of his chair with the gesture of a man 
who has made up his mind, and put his pipe down upon the 
mantel-piece. 

“Sarasate plays at the St. James’s Hall this afternoon,” he 
remarked. ‘What do you think, Watson? Could your pa- 
tients spare you for a few hours ?” 

“T have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very 
absorbing.” 

“Then put on your hat and come. I am going through 
the city first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I 
observe that there is a good deal of German music on the 
programme, which is rather more to my taste than Italian or 
French. It is introspective, and I want to introspect. Come 
along !” 3 

We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate ; 
and a short walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene 
of the singular story which we had listened to in the morn- 
ing. It was a pokey, little, shabby-genteel place, where four 
lines of dingy two-storied brick houses looked out into a 
small railed-in enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a 
few clumps of faded laurel-bushes made a hard fight against 


44 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


a smoke-laden and uncongenial atmosphere. ‘Three gilt balls 
and a brown board with “Japez WiLson” in white letters, 
upon a corner house, announced the place where our red- 
headed client carried on his business. Sherlock Holmes 
stopped in front of it with his head on one side, and looked 
it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between puckered 
lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down 
again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Final- 
ly he returned to the pawnbroker’s, and, having thumped vig- 
orously upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, 
he went up to the door and knocked. It was instantly 
opened by a bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who 
asked him to step in. 

“Thank you,” said Holmes, “I only wished to ask you 
how you would go from here to the Strand.” 

“Third right, fourth left,” answered the assistant, promptly, 
closing the door. 

“Smart fellow, that,” observed Holmes, as we walked away. 
“He is, in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, 
and for daring I am not sure that he has not a claim to be 
third. I have known something of him before.” 

“Evidently,” said I, “Mr. Wilson’s assistant counts for a 
good deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am 
sure that you inquired your way merely in order that you 
might see him,” , 

“Not him.” 

“What then ?” 

“The knees of his trousers.” 

“ And what did you see?” 

“What I expected to see.” 

‘“‘Why did you beat the pavement ?” 

“My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for 
talk. We are spies in an enemy's country. We know some- 
thing of Saxe-Coburg Square. Let us now explore the parts 
which lie behind it.” 

The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 4S 


the corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as 
great a contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the 
back. It was one of the main arteries which convey the 
traffic of the city to the north and west. The roadway was 
blocked with the immense stream of commerce flowing in a 
double tide inward and outward, while the foot-paths were 
black with the hurrying swarm of pedestrians. It was diffi- 
cult to realize as we looked at the line of fine shops and 
stately business premises that they really abutted on the 
other side upon the faded and stagnant square which we had 
just quitted. 

“Let me see,” said Holmes, standing at the corner, and 
glancing along the line, “I should like just to remember the 
order of the houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an 
exact knowledge of London. There is Mortimer’s, the tobac- 
conist, the little newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the 
City and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian Restaurant, and 
McFarlane’s carriage-building depot. ‘That carries us right 
on to the other block. And now, doctor, we’ve done our 
work, so it’s time we had some play. A sandwich and a cup 
of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where all is sweetness 
and delicacy and harmony, and there are no red-headed cli- 
ents to vex us with their conundrums,” 

My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not 
only a very capable performer, but a composer of no ordinary 
merit. All the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the 
most perfect happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers 
in time to the music, while his gently smiling face and his lan- 
guid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those of Holmes, the sleuth- 
hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed crim- 
inal agent, as it was possible to conceive. In his singular 
character the dual nature alternately asserted itself, and his 
extreme exactness and astuteness represented, as I have often 
thought, the reaction against the poetic and contemplative 
mood which occasionally predominated in him. The swing 
of his nature took him from extreme languor to devouring 


46 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


energy; and, as I knew well, he was never so truly formida. 
ble as when, for days on end, he had been lounging in his 
arm-chair amid his improvisations and his black-letter edi- 
tions. ‘Then it was that the lust of the chase would suddenly 
come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning power would 
rise to the level of intuition, until those who were unacquaint- 
ed with his methods would look askance at him as on a man 
whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I 
saw him that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. 
James’s Hall I felt that an evil time might be coming upon 
those whom he had set himself to hunt down. 

“You want to go home,” no doubt, doctor,” he remarked, 
as we emerged. 

“Ves, it would be as well.” 

“And I have some business to do which will take some 
hours. This business at Coburg Square is serious.” 

“Why serious ?” 

“A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every 
reason to believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to- 
day being Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want 
your help to-night.” 

“ At what time?” 

“Ten will be early enough.” 

“T shall be at Baker Street at ten.” 

“Very well. And, I say, doctor, there may be some little 
danger, so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket.” 
He waved his hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in 
an instant among the crowd. 

I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbors, but I 
was always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my 
dealings with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he 
had heard, I had seen what he had seen, and yet from his 
words it was evident that he saw clearly not only what had 
happened, but what was about to happen, while to me the 
whole business was still confused and grotesque. As I drove 
home to my house in Kensington I thought over it all, from 


‘* ALL AFTERNOON HE SAT IN THE STALLS ” 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 47 


the extraordinary story of the red-headed copier of the “ En- 
cyclopedia” down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg Square, and 
the ominous words with which he had parted from me. What 
was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? 
Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the 
hint from Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker’s as- 
sistant was a formidable man—a man who might play a 
deep game. I tried to puzzle it out, but gave it up in 
despair, and set the matter aside until night should bring an 
explanation. 

It was a quarter past nine when I started from home and 
made my way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street 
to Baker Street. ‘Two hansoms were standing at the door, 
and, as I entered the passage, I heard the sound of voices 
from above. On entering his room I found Holmes in an- 
imated conversation with two men, one of whom I recognized 
as Peter Jones, the official police agent, while the other was 
a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a very shiny hat and oppres- 
sively respectable frock-coat. 

“Ha! our party is complete,” said Holmes, buttoning up 
his pea-jacket, and taking his heavy hunting crop from the 
rack. “Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland 
Yard? Let me introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is 
to be our companion in to-night’s adventure.” 

““We’re hunting in couples again, doctor, you see,” said 
Jones, in his consequential way. ‘Our friend here is a won- 
derful man for starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog 
to help him to do the running down.” 

‘“‘T hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our 
chase,” observed Mr. Merryweather, gloomily. 

“You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, 
sir,” said the police agent, loftily. ‘“ He has his own little 
methods, which are, if he won’t mind my saying so, just a lit- 
tle too theoretical and fantastic, but he has the makings of a 
detective in him. It is not too much to say that once or 
twice, as in that business of the Sholto murder and the Agra 


48 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


._ treasure, he has been more nearly correct than the official 
force.” 

“Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right,” said the 
stranger, with deference. “Still, I confess that I miss my 
rubber. It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty 
years that I have not had my rubber.” 

“J think you will find,” said Sherlock Holmes, “that you 
will play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done 
yet, and that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. 
Merryweather, the stake will be some £30,000; and for you, 
Jones, it will be the man upon whom you wish to lay your 
hands.” 

“John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He’s 
a young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his 
profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than 
on any criminal in London. He’s a remarkable man, is young 
John Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he him- 
self has been to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning 
as his fingers, and though we meet signs of him at every turn, 
we never know where to find the man himself. He’ll crack a 
crib in Scotland one week, and be raising money to build an 
orphanage in Cornwall the next. I’ve been on his track for 
years, and have never set eyes on him yet.” 

“T hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you 
to-night. I’ve had one or two little turns also with Mr. John 
Clay, and I agree with you that he is at the head of his pro- 
fession. It is past ten, however, and quite time that we start- 
ed. If you two will take the first hansom, Watson and I will 
follow in the second.” 

Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the 
long drive, and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which 
he had heard in the afternoon. We rattled through an end- 
less labyrinth of gas-lit streets until we emerged into Farring- 
don Street. : 

“We are close there now,” my friend remarked. “This. fel- 
low Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 49 


in the matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us 
also. He is not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in 
his profession. He has one positive virtue. He is as brave 
as a bull- dog, and as tenacious as a lobster if he gets his 
claws upon any one. Here we are, and they are waiting for 
us.” 

We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which 
we had found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dis- 
missed, and, following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we 
passed down a narrow passage and through a side door, which 
he opened for us. Within there was a small corridor, which 
ended in a very massive iron gate. This also was opened, 
and led down a flight of winding stone steps, which terminat- 
ed at another formidable gate. Mr. Merryweather stopped 
to light a lantern, and then conducted us down a dark, earth- 
smelling passage, and so, after opening a third door, into a 
huge vault or cellar, which was piled all round with crates and 
massive boxes. 

“You are not very vulnerable from above,” Holmes re- 
marked, as he held up the lantern and gazed about him. 

“Nor from below,” said Mr. Merryweather, striking his 
stick upon the flags which lined the floor. ‘Why, dear me, 
it sounds quite hollow!” he remarked, looking up in surprise. 

“JT must really ask you to be a little more quiet,” said 
Holmes, severely. ‘‘ You have already imperilled the whole 
success of our expedition. Might I beg that you would have 
the goodness to sit down upon one of those boxes, and not 
to interfere ?” 

The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a 
crate, with a very injured expression upon his face, while 
Holmes fell upon his knees upon the floor, and, with the lan- 
tern and a magnifying lens, began to examine minutely the 
cracks between the stones. A few seconds sufficed to satisfy 
him, for he sprang to his feet again, and put his glass in his 
pocket. 


“We have at least an hour before us,” he remarked; “ for 
+ 


5° ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


they can hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is 
safely in bed. Then they will not lose a minute, for the 
sooner they do their work the longer time they will have for 
their escape. We are at present, doctor—as no doubt you 
have divined—in the cellar of the city branch of one of the 
principal London banks. Mr. Merryweather is the chairman 
of directors, and he will explain to you that there are reasons 
why the more daring criminals of London should take a con- 
siderable interest in this cellar at present.” 

“Tt is our French gold,” whispered the director. “We 
have had several warnings that an attempt might be made 
upon it.” 

“Your French gold ?” 

“Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen 
our resources, and borrowed, for that purpose, 30,000 napo- 
leons from the Bank of France. It has become known that 
we have never had occasion to unpack the money, and that 
it is still lying in our cellar. The crate upon which I sit 
contains 2000 napoleons packed between layers of lead foil. 
Our reserve of bullion is much larger at present than is usually 
kept in a single branch office, and the directors have had mis- 
givings upon the subject.” 

“Which were very well justified,” observed Holmes. “ And 
now it is time that we arranged our little plans. I expect 
that within an hour matters will come to a head. In the 
mean time, Mr. Merryweather, we must put the screen over 
that dark lantern.” 

“ And sit in the dark?” 

“JT am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my 
pocket, and I thought that, as we were a partie carréé, you 
might have your rubber afterall. But I see that the enemy’s 
preparations have gone so far that we cannot risk the pres- 
ence of a light. And, first of all, we must choose our posi- 
tions. These are daring men, and though we shall take them 
at a disadvantage, they may do us some harm unless we are 
careful. I shall stand behind this crate, and do you conceal 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 51 


yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a light upon 
them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no com- 
punction about shooting them down.” 

I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden 
case behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across 
the front of his lantern, and left us in pitch darkness—such 
an absolute darkness as I have never before experienced. 
The smell of hot metal remained to assure us that the light 
was still there, ready to flash out at a moment’s notice. To 
me, with my nerves worked up to a pitch of expectancy, there 
was something depressing and subduing in the sudden gloom, 
and in the cold, dank air of the vault. 

_ “They have but one retreat,” whispered Holmes. “That 
is back through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope 
that you have done what I asked you, Jones ?” 

“‘T] have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front 
door.” 

“Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must 
be silent and wait.” 

What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards 
it was but an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that 
the night must have almost gone, and the dawn be breaking 
above us. My limbs were weary and stiff, for I feared to 
change my position; yet my nerves were worked up to the 
highest pitch of tension, and my hearing was so acute that I 
could not only hear the gentle breathing of my companions, 
but I could distinguish the deeper, heavier in-breath of the 
bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note of the bank director. 
From my position I could look over the case in the direction 
of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint of a light. 

At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. 
Then it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and 
then, without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open 
and a hand appeared; a white, almost womanly hand, which 
felt about in tle centre of the little area of light. For a min- 
ute or more the hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out 


52 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


of the floor. Then it was withdrawn as suddenly as it ap- 
peared, and all was dark again save the single lurid spark 
which marked a chink between the stones. 

Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a 
rending, tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned 
over upon its side, and left a square, gaping hole, through 
which streamed the light of a lantern. Over the edge there 
peeped a clean-cut, boyish face, which looked keenly about it, 
and then, with a hand on either side of the aperture, drew it- 
self shoulder-high and waist-high, until one knee rested upon 
the edge. Inanother instant he stood at the side of the 
hole, and was hauling after him a companion, lithe and small 
like himself, with a pale face and a shock of very red hair. 

“Tt’s all clear,” he whispered. ‘ Have you the chisel and 
the bags. Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing 
for it!” 

Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder 
by the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard 
the sound of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. 
The light flashed upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes’s 
hunting crop came down on the man’s wrist, and the pistol 
clinked upon the stone floor. 

“Tt’s no use, John Clay,” said Holmes, blandly. “You have 
no chance at all.” 

“So I see,” the other answered, with the utmost coolness. 
“J fancy that my pal is all right, though I see you have got 
his coat-tails.” 

“There are three men waiting for him at the door,” said 
Holmes. | 

‘Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very 
completely. I must compliment you.” 

“ And I you,” Holmes answered. ‘“ Your red-headed idea 
was very new and effective.” 

“You'll see your pal again presently,” said Jones. ‘“ He’s 
quicker at climbing down holes than I am,” Just hold out 
while I fix the derbies,” 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 53 


“T beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands,” 
remarked our prisoner, as the handcuffs clattered upon his 
wrists. ‘You may not be aware that I have royal blood in 
my veins. Have the goodness, also, when you address me al- 
ways to say ‘sir’ and ‘please.’” 

* All right,” said Jones, with a stare and a snigger. “ Well, 
would you please, sir, march up-stairs, where we can get a cab 
to carry your highness to the police-station ?” 

“That is better,” said John Clay,serenely. He made a 
sweeping bow to the three of us, and walked quietly off in the 
custody of the detective. 

“ Really Mr. Holmes,” said Mr. Merryweather, as we fol- 
lowed them from the cellar, “I do not know how the bank can 
thank you or repay you. There is no doubt that you have 
detected and defeated in the most complete manner one of 
the most determined attempts at bank robbery that have ever 
come within my experience.” 

“T have had one or two little scores of my own to settle 
with Mr. John Clay,” said Holmes. “I have been at some 
small expense over this matter, which I shall expect the bank 
to refund, but beyond that I am amply repaid by having had 
an experience which is in many ways unique, and by hearing 
the very remarkable narrative of the Red-headed League.” 


“You see, Watson,” he explained, in the early hours of the 
morning, as we sat over a glass of whiskey-and-soda in Baker 
Street, “it was perfectly obvious from the first that the only 
possible object of this rather fantastic business of the advertise- 
ment of the League, and the copying of the ‘ Encyclopeedia,’ 
must be to get this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the 
way for a number of hours every day. It was a curious way 
of managing it, but, really, it would be difficult to suggest a bet- 
ter. The method was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingen- 
ious mind by the color of his accomplice’s hair. The £4 a 
week was a lure which must draw him, and what was it to 
them, who were playing for thousands? They put in the ad- 


54 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


vertisement, one rogue has the temporary office, the other 
rogue incites the man to apply for it, and together they man- 
age to secure his absence every morning in the week. From 
the time that I heard of the assistant having come for half 
wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive 
for securing the situation.” 

** But how could you guess what the motive was?” : 

“Had there been women in the house, I should have sus- 
pected a mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the 
question. The man’s business was a small one, and there 
was nothing in his house which could account for such elabo- 
rate preparations, and such an expenditure as they were at. 
It must, then, be something out of the house. What could it 
be? I thought of the assistant’s fondness for photography, 
and his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar! There 
was the end of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries as 
to this mysterious assistant, and found that I had to deal with 
one of the coolest and most daring criminals in London. He 
was doing something in the cellar—something which took 
many hours a day for months onend. What could it be, once 
more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a 
tunnel to some other building. 

“So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of 
action. I surprised you by beating upon the pavement with 
my stick. I was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out 
in front or behind. It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, 
and, as I hoped, the assistant answered it. We have had 
some skirmishes, but we had never set eyes upon each other 
before. I hardly looked at his face. His knees were what I. 
wished to see. You must yourself have remarked how worn, 
wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of those hours 
of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they were 
burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw that the City 
and Suburban Bank abutted on our friend’s premises, and felt 
that I had solved my problem. When you drove home after. 
the concert I called upon Scotland Yard, and upon the chair- 


THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 55 


man of the bank directors, with: the result that you have 
seen.” 

“ And how could you tell that they would make their at- 
tempt to-night ?” I asked. 

“ Well, when they closed their League offices that was a 
sign that they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson’s pres- 
ence—in other words, that they had completed their tunnel. 
But it was essential that they should use it soon, as it might 
be discovered, or the bullion might be removed. Saturday 
would suit them better than any other day, as it would give 
them two days for their escape. For all these reasons I ex- 
pected them to come to-night.” 

“You reasoned it out beautifully,” I exclaimed, in unfeigned 
admiration. “It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings 
true.” 

“Tt saved me from ennui,” he answered, yawning. “Alas! 
I already feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one 
long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence. 
These little problems help me to do so.” 

“* And you are a benefactor of the race,” said I. 

He shrugged his shoulders. ‘“‘ Well, perhaps, after all, it is 
of some little use,” he remarked. “‘L’homme c'est rien — 
ceuvre c’est tout,’ as Gustave Flaubert wrote to Georges 
Sand.” 


Hodventure W1t 


A CASE OF IDENTITY 


8$ Y dear fellow,” said Sherlock Holmes, as we sat on 
either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker 
Street, “life is infinitely stranger than anything 
which the mind of man could invent. We would 
not. dace to conceive the things which are really mere com- 
monplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window 
hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the 
roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the 
strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the 
wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and 
leading to the ‘most ou/ré results, it would make all fiction 
with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale 
and unprofitable.” 

“And yet I am not convinced of it,” I answered. ‘The 
cases which come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald 
enough, and vulgar enough. We have in our police reports 
realism pushed to its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it 
must be confessed, neither fascinating nor artistic.” 

** A certain selection and discretion must be used in pro- 
ducing a realistic effect,” remarked Holmes. ‘ This is want- 
ing in the police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, 
upon the platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, 
which to an observer contain the vital essence of the whole 
matter. Depend upon it there is nothing so unnatural as the 
commonplace.” 

I smiled and shook my head. “I can quite understand you 
thinking so,” I said. ‘Of course, in your position of un- 


A CASE OF IDENTITY 57 


official adviser and helper to everybody who is absolutely 
puzzled, throughout three continents, you are brought in con- 
tact with all that is strange and bizarre. But here ”—I picked 
up the morning paper from the ground—“ let us put it to a 
practical test. Here is the first heading upon which I come. 
‘A husband’s cruelty to his wife.’ There is half a column 
of print, but I know without reading it that it is all perfectly 
familiar to me. There is, of course, the other woman, the 
drink, the push, the blow, the bruise, the sympathetic sister 
or landlady. The crudest of writers could invent nothing 
more crude.” 

‘Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argu- 
ment,” said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye 
down it. “This is the Dundas separation case, and, as it 
happens, I was engaged in clearing up some small points in 
‘connection with it. The husband was a teetotaler, there was no 
other woman, and the conduct complained of was that he had 
drifted into the habit of winding up every meal by taking out 
his false teeth and hurling them at his wife, which, you will 
allow, is not an action likely to occur to the imagination of the 
average story-teller. Take a pinch of snuff, doctor, and ac- 
knowledge that I have scored over you in your example.” 

He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst 
in the centre of the lid. Its splendor was in such contrast to 
his homely ways and simple life that I could not help com- 
menting upon it. 

“ Ah,” said he, “I forgot that I had not seen you for some 
weeks, It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in 
return for my assistance in the case of the Irene Adler 
papers.” 

* And the ring ?” I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant 
which sparkled upon his finger. 

“Tt was from the reigning family of Holland, though the 
matter in which I served them was of such delicacy that I 
cannot confide it even to you, who have been good enough to 
chronicle one or two of my little problems.” 


58 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


‘‘And have you any on hand just now?’ I asked, with in- 
terest. 

“Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature 
of interest. They are important, you understand, without be- 
ing interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in un- 
important matters that there is a field for the observation, 
and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the 
charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be 
the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a 
rule, is the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intri- 
cate matter which has been referred to me from Marseilles, 
there is nothing which presents any features of interest. It is 
possible, however, that I may have something better before 
very many minutes are over, for this is one of my clients, or I 
am much mistaken.” 

He had risen from his chair, and was standing between the 
parted blinds, gazing down into the dull, neutral-tinted Lon- 
don street. Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pave- 
ment opposite there stood a large woman with a heavy fur 
boa round her neck, and a large curling red feather in a broad- 
brimmed hat which was tilted in a coquettish Duchess - of- 
Devonshire fashion over her ear. From under this great 
panoply she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion at our 
windows, while her body oscillated backward and forward, 
and her fingers fidgetted with her glove buttons. Suddenly, 
with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves the bank, she 
hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp clang of the 
bell. | 

“T have seen those symptoms before,” said Holmes, throw- 
ing his cigarette into the fire. ‘Oscillation upon the pavement 
always means an affaire de ceur. She would like advice, but 
is not sure that the matter is not too delicate for communica- 
tion. And yet even here we may discriminate. When a 
woman has been seriously wronged by a man she no longer 
oscillates, and the usual symptom is a broken bell wire. Here 
we may take it that there is a love matter, but that the maiden 


A CASE OF IDENTITY 59 


is not so much angry as perplexed, or grieved. But here she 
comes in person to resolve our doubts.” 

As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in 
buttons entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the 
lady herself loomed behind his small black figure like a full- 
sailed merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock 
Holmes welcomed her with the easy courtesy for which he was 
remarkable, and having closed the door, and bowed her into 
an arm-chair, he looked her over in the minute, and yet ab- 
stracted fashion which was peculiar to him. 

“Do you not find,” he said, “that with your short sight it 
is a little trying to do so much type-writing ?” 

“‘T did at first,’ she answered, ‘‘but now I know where the 
‘letters are without looking.” Then, suddenly realizing the 
full purport of his words, she gave a violent start and looked 
up, with fear and astonishment upon her broad, good-humored 
face. ‘“‘You’ve heard about me, Mr. Holmes,” she cried, “else - 
how could you know all that?” 

“Never mind,” said Holmes, laughing ; “it is my business 
to know things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what 
others overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?” 

“T came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. 
Etherege, whose husband you found so easy when the police 
and every one had given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, 
I wish you would do as much for me. I’m not rich, but still 
I have a hundred a year in my own right, besides the little 
that I make by the machine, and I would give it all to know 
what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel.” 

““Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?” 
asked Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together, and his 
eyes to the ceiling. 

Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face 
of Miss Mary Sutherland. “ Yes, I did bang out of the house,” 
she said, “‘for it made me angry to see the easy way in which 
Mr. Windibank—that is, my father—took it all. He would 
not go to the police, and he would not go to you, and so at 


60 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


last, as he would do nothing, and kept on saying that there 
was no harm done, it made me mad, and I just on with my 
things and came right away to you.” 

“Your father,” said Holmes, “ your step-father, surely, since 
the name is different.” 

“Yes, my step-father. I call him father, though it sounds 
funny, too, for he is only five years and two months older 
than myself.” 

“And your mother is alive ?” 

“Oh yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn’t best pleased, 
Mr. Holmes, when she married again so soon after father’s 
death, and a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than 
herself. Father was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, 
and he left a tidy business behind him, which mother carried 
on with Mr. Hardy, the foreman; but when Mr. Windibank 
came he made her sell the business, for he was very superior, 
being a traveller in wines. They got £4700 for the good- 
will and interest, which wasn’t near as much as father could 
have got if he had been alive.” 

I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this 
rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, 
he had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. 

“Your own little income,” he asked, “does it come out of 
the business ?”’ 

“Oh no, sir. It is quite separate, and was left me by my 
Uncle Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 
44 per cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the 
amount, but I can only touch the interest.” 

“You interest me extremely,” said Holmes. “ And since 
you draw so large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you 
earn into the bargain, you no doubt travel a little, and indulge 
yourself in every way. I believe that a single lady can get on 
very nicely upon an income of about £60.” 

“T could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you 
understand that as long as I live at home I don’t wish to be 
a burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just 


**“SHERLOCK HOLMES WELCOMED HER” 


A CASE OF IDENTITY 61 


while I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for 
the time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter, 
and pays it over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty 
well with what I earn at type-writing. It brings me twopence 
a sheet, and I can often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a 
day.” i 

“You have made your position very clear to me,” said 
Holmes. °“ This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you 
can speak as freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all 
about your connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel.” 

A flush stole over Miss Sutherland’s face, and she picked 
nervously at the fringe of her jacket. “I met him first at the 
gasfitters’ ball,” she said. “They used to send father tickets 
when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, 
and sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank ‘did not wish us to 
go. He never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite 
mad if I wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. 
But this time I was set on going, and I would go; for what 
right had he to prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us 
to know, when all father’s friends were to be there. And he 
said that I had nothing fit to wear, when I had my purple 
plush that I had never so much as taken out of the drawer. 
At last, when nothing else would do, he went off to France 
upon the business of the firm, but we went, mother and I, with 
Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it was there I 
met Mr. Hosmer Angel.” 

“T suppose,” said Holmes, “ that when Mr. Windibank came 
back from France he was very annoyed at your having gone 
to the ball.” 

“Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I re- 
member, and shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no 
use denying anything to a woman, for she would have her 
way.” 

“T see. Then at the gasfitters’ ball you met, as I under- 
stand, a gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel.” 

“Yes, sir, I met him that night, and he called next day to 


62 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


ask if we had got home all safe, and after that we met him— 
‘that is to say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but 
after that father came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel 
could not come to the house any more.” 

“No?” 

“Well, you know, father didn’t like anything of the sort. 
He wouldn’t have any visitors if he could help it, and he used 
to say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. 
But then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own 
circle to begin with, and I had not got mine yet.” 

* But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no at- 
tempt to see you ?” 

“Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and 
Hosmer wrote and said that it would be safer and better not 
to see each other until he had gone. We could write in the 
mean time, and he used to write every day. I took the let- 
ters in in the morning, so there was no need for father to 
know.” 

“Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?” 

“Oh yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first 
walk that we took. Hosmer—Mr. Angel—was a cashier in 
an office in Leadenhall Street—and—”’ 

“* What office ?” 

“That’s the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don’t know.” 

** Where did he live, then ?” 

“‘ He slept on the premises.” 

“ And you don’t know his address ?” 

' “No—except that it was Leadenhall Street.” 

“Where did you address your letters, then ?” 

“To the Leadenhall Street Post-office, to be left till called 
for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be 
chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a 
lady, so I offered to type-write them, like he did his, but he 
wouldn’t have that, for he said that when I wrote them they 
seemed to come from me, but when they were type-written he 
always felt that the machine had come between us. That 


A CASE OF IDENTITY 63 


will just show you how fond he was of me, Mr. Holmes, and 
the little things that he would think of.” 

“Tt was most suggestive,” said Holmes. “It has long been 
an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most 
important. Can you remember any other little things about 
Mr. Hosmer Angel?” 

“He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather 
walk with me in the evening than in the daylight, for he said 
that he hated to be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentle- 
manly he was. Even his voice was gentle. He’d had the 
quinsy and swollen glands when he was young, he told me, 
and it had left him with a weak throat, and a hesitating, 
whispering fashion of speech. He was always well dressed, 
very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just as mine are, 
and he wore tinted glasses against the glare.” 

“Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your step- 
father, returned to France ?” 

“Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again, and proposed 
that we should marry before father came back. He was in 
dreadful earnest, and made me swear, with my hands on the 
Testament, that whatever happened I would always be true 
to him. Mother said he was quite right to make me swear, 
and that it was a sign of his passion. Mother was all in his 
favor from the first, and was even fonder of him than I was. 
Then, when they talked of marrying within the week, I began 
to ask about father; but they both said never to mind about 
father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother said she 
would make it all right with him. I didn’t quite like that, Mr. 
Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as he 
was only a few years older than me; but I didn’t want to do 
anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where 
the company has its French offices, but the letter came back 
to me on the very morning of the wedding.” 

“Tt missed him, then ?” 

“Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it ar- 
rived,” 


64 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, 
then, for the Friday. Was it to be in church ?” 

“Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour’s, 
near King’s Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards 
at the St. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, 
but as there were two of us, he put us both into it, and stepped 
himself into a four-wheeler, which happened to be the only 
other cab in the street. We got to the church first, and when 
the four-wheeler drove up we waited for him to step out, but 
he never did, and when the cabman got down from the box 
and looked, there was no one there! The cabman said that 
he could not imagine what had become of him, for he had 
seen him get in with his own eyes. That was last Friday, Mr. 
Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything since then 
to throw any light upon what became of him.” 

“It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treat- 
ed,” said Holmes. 

“Oh no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. 
Why, all the morning he was saying to me that, whatever 
happened, I was to be true; and that even if something quite 
unforeseen occurred to separate us, I was always to remember 
that I was pledged to him, and that he would claim his pledge 
sooner or later. It seemed strange talk for a wedding-morn- 
ing, but what has happened since gives a meaning to it.” 

“Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that 
some unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him ?” 

Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he 
would not have talked so. And then I think that what he 
foresaw happened.” 

“But you have no notion as to what it could have been?”. 

“ None.” 

“One more question. How did your mother take the 
matter ?” 

“ She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the 
matter again.” 

“ And your father? Did you tell him?” 


A CASE OF IDENTITY 65 


“Ves ; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had 
happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he 
said, what interest could any one have in bringing me to the 
doors of theechurch, and then leaving me? Now, if he had 
borrowed my money, or if he had married me and got my mon- 
ey settled on him, there might be some reason ; but Hosmer 
was very independent about money, and never would look at 
a shilling of mine. And yet, what could have happened? And 
why could he not write? Oh, it drives me half-mad to think 
of! and I can’t sleep a wink at night.” She pulled a little 
handkerchief out of her muff, and began to sob heavily into it. 

“‘T shall glance into the case for you,” said Holmes, rising ; 
“and I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite re- 
sult. Let the weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do 
not let your mind dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let 
Mr. Hosmer Angel vanish from your memory, as he has done 
from your life.” 

“Then you don’t think I’ll see him again ?” 

“T fear not.” 

“Then what has happened to him ?” 

“You will leave that question in my hands. I should like 
an accurate description of him, and any letters of his which 
you can spare.” 

“T advertised for him in last Saturday’s Chronicle,” said 
she. “ Here is the slip, and here are four letters from him.” 

“Thank you. And your address?” 

“No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell.” 

“Mr. Angel’s address you nevcr had, I understand. Where 
is your father’s place of business ?” 

“ He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret im- 
porters of Fenchurch Street.” 

“Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. 
You will leave the papers here, and remember the advice 
which I have given you. Let the whole incident be a sealed 
book, and do not allow it to affect your life.” 


“ You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I 
5 


66 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


shall be true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he 
comes back.” | 

For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was 
something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which com- 
pelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon 
the table, and went her way, with a promise to come again 
whenever she might be summoned. 

Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his finger- 
tips still préssed together, his legs stretched out in front of 
him, and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he 
took down from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was 
to him as a counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in 
his chair, with the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from 
him, and a look of infinite languor in his face. 

“Quite an interesting study, that maiden,” he observed. “I 
found her more interesting than her little problem, which, by 
the way, is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if 
you consult my index, in Andover in ’77, and there was some- 
thing of the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, 
however, there were one or two details which were new to me. 
But the maiden herself was most instructive.” 

“You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was 
quite invisible to me,” I remarked. 

‘Not invisible, but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know 
where to look, and so you missed all that was important. I 
can never bring you to realize the importance of sleeves, the 
suggestiveness of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may 
hang from a boot-lace. Now, what did you gather from that 
woman’s appearance? Describe it.” 

“‘Well, she had a slate-colored, broad-brimmed straw hat, 
with a feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with 
black beads sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet orna- 
ments. Her dress was brown, rather darker than coffee color, 
with a little purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her 
gloves were grayish, and were worn through at the right fore- 
finger. Her boots I didn’t observe. She had small, round, 


A CASE OF IDENTITY 67 


hanging gold ear-rings, and a general air of being fairly well- 
to-do, in a vulgar, comfortable, easy-going way.” 

Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and 
chuckled. 

“Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. 
You have really done very well indeed. It is true that you 
have missed everything of importance, but you have hit upon 
the method, and you have a quick eye for color. Never trust 
to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon 
details. My first glance is always at a woman’s sleeve. Ina 
man it is perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. 
As you observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, 
which is a most useful material for showing traces. The 
double line a little above the wrist, where the type-writist 
presses against the table, was beautifully defined. The sew- 
‘ing-machine, of the hand type, leaves a similar mark, but only 
on the left arm, and on the side of it farthest from the thumb, 
instead of being right across the broadest part, as this was. 
I then glanced at her face, and observing the dint of a pince- 
nez at either side of her nose, I ventured a remark upon short 
sight and type-writiug, which seemed to surprise her.” 

“It surprised me.” 

“But, surely, it was very obvious. I was then much sur- 
prised and interested on glancing down to observe that, 
though the boots which she was wearing were not unlike each 
other, they were really odd ones; the one having a slightly 
decorated toe-cap, and the other a plain one. One was but- 
toned only in the two lower buttons out of five, and the other 
at the first, third, and fifth. Now, when you see that a young 
lady, otherwise neatly dressed, has come away from home 
with odd boots, half-buttoned, it is no great deduction to say 
that she came away in a hurry.” 

“‘ And what else?” I asked, keenly interested, as I always 
was, by my friend’s incisive reasoning. 

“T noted, in passing, that she had written a note before 
leaving home, but after being fully dressed. You observed 


68 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


that her right glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not 
apparently see that both glove and finger were stained with 
violet ink. She had written in a hurry, and dipped her pen 
too deep. It must have been this morning, or the mark would 
not remain clear upon the finger. All this is amusing, though 
rather elementary, but I must go back to business, Watson. 
Would you mind reading me the advertised description of Mr. 
Hosmer Angel ?” | 

I held the little printed slip to the light. ‘ Missing,” it 
said, ‘on the morning of the 14th, a gentleman named Hos- 
mer Angel. About 5 ft. 7 in. in height; strongly built, sallow 
complexion, black hair, a little bald in the centre, bushy, 
black side-whiskers and mustache; tinted glasses, slight in- 
firmity of speech. Was dressed, when last*seen, in black 
frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert chain, 
and gray Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over elastic- 
sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in 
Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing,” etc., etc. 

“That will do,” said Holmes. ‘“ As to the letters,” he con- 
tinued, glancing over them, “they are very commonplace. 
Absolutely no clew in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes 
Balzac once. ‘There is one remarkable point, however, which 
will no doubt strike you.” 

“They are type-written,” I remarked. 

“Not only that, but the signature is type-written. Look at 
the neat little ‘Hosmer Angel’ at the bottom. There is a 
date, you see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, 
which is rather vague. The point about the signature is very 
suggestive—in fact, we may call it conclusive.” 

“Of what ?” 

“My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly 
it bears upon the case?” 

“T cannot say that I do, unless it were that he wished to 
be able to deny his signature if an action for breach of 
promise were instituted.” 

“No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two 


A CASE OF IDENTITY 69 


letters, which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in 
the city, the other is to the young lady’s step-father, Mr. 
Windibank, asking him whether he could meet us here at six 
o’clock to-morrow evening. It is just as well that we should 
do business with the male relatives. And now, doctor, we 
can do nothing until the answers to those letters come, so we 
may put our little problem upon the shelf for the interim.” 

I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend’s subtle 
powers of reasoning, and extraordinary energy in action, that 
I felt that he must have some solid grounds for the assured 
and easy demeanor with which he treated the singular mystery 
which he had been called upon to fathom. Once only had 
I known him to fail, in the case of the King of Bohemia and 
of the Irene Adler photograph ; but when I looked back to the 
weird business of the Sign of Four, and the extraordinary cir- 
cumstances connected with the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it 
would be a strange tangle indeed which he could not unravel. 

I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the 
- conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would 
find that he held in his hands all the clews which would lead 
up to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss 
Mary Sutherland. 

A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own 
attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy 
at the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon 
six o’clock that I found myself free, and was able to spring 
into a hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I 
might be too late to assist at the dénouement of the little mys- 
tery. I found Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, 
with his long, thin form curled up in the recesses of his arm- 
chair. A formidable array of bottles and test-tubes, with the 
pungent cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he 
had spent his day in the chemical work which was so dear to 
him. 

“Well, have you solved it?” I asked, as I entered. 

“Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta.” 


70 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


““No, no, the mystery !” I cried. 

“Oh, that! I thought of the salt that.I have been working 
upon. There was never any mystery in the matter, though, 
as I said yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The 
only drawback is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch 
the scoundrel.” 

“Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting 
Miss Sutherland ?” 

The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes 
had not yet opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy 
footfall in the passage, and a tap at the door. 

. “This is the girl's step-father, Mr. James Windibank,” said 
Holmes. “He has written to me to say that he would be 
here at six. Come in!” 

The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, 
some thirty years of age, clean shaven, and sallow skinned, 
with a bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully 
sharp and penetrating gray eyes. He shot a questioning 
glance at each of us, placed his shiny top hat upon the side- 
board, and with a slight bow sidled down into the nearest 
chair. 

“ Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank,” said Holmes. “I 
think that this type-written letter is from you, in which you 
made an appointment with me for six o’clock ?” 

“Ves, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not 
quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss 
Sutherland has troubled you about this little matter, for I 
think it is far better not to wash linen of the sort in public. 
It was quite against my wishes that she came, but she is a 
very excitable, impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and 
she is not easily controlled when she has made up her mind 
on a point.. Of course, I did not mind you so much, as you 
are not connected with the official police, but it is not pleas- 
ant to have a family misfortune like this noised abroad. Be- 
sides, it is a useless expense, for how could you possibly find 
this Hosmer Angel ?” 


A CASE _OF IDENTITY 71 


“On the contrary,” said Holmes, quietly; “I have every 
reason to believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hos- 
mer Angel.” 

Mr. Windibank gave a violent start, and dropped his gloves. 
“T am delighted to hear it,” he said. 

“Tt is a curious thing,” remarked Holmes, “that a type- 
writer has really quite as much individuality as a man’s 
handwriting. Unless they are quite new, no two of them 
write exactly alike. Some letters get more worn than others, 
and some wear only on one side. Now, you remark in this 
note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that in every case there is some 
little slurring over of the ‘e,’ and a slight defect in the tail of 
the ‘r.’ There are fourteen other characteristics, but those 
are the more obvious.” 

“We do all our correspondence with this machine at the 
office, and no doubt it is a little worn,” our visitor answered, 
glancing keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. 

“ And now I will show you what is really a very interesting 
study, Mr. Windibank,” Holmes continued. “I think of writ- 
ing another little monograph some of these days on the type- 
writer and its relation to crime. It is a subject to which I 
have devoted some little attention. I have here four letters 
which purport to come from the missing man. They are all 
type-written. In each case, not only are the ‘e’s’ slurred and 
the ‘r’s ’ tailless, but you will observe, if you care to use my 
magnifying lens, that the fourteen other characteristics to 
which I have alluded are there as well.” 

Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair, and picked up his 
hat. “I cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, 
Mr. Holmes,” he said. “If you can catch the man, catch 
him, and let me know when you have done it.” 

“Certainly,” said Holmes, stepping over and turning the 
key in the door. “I let you know, then, that I have caught 
him !” 

“What! where?” shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to 
his lips, and glancing about him like a rat in a trap> 


72 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Oh, it won’t do—really it won’t,” said Holmes, suavely. 
“There is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is 
quite too transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when 
you said that it was impossible for me to solve so simple a 
question. That’s right! Sit down, and let us talk it over.” 

Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face, and 
a glitter of moisture on his brow. ‘ It—it’s not actionable,” 
he stammered. 

“T am very much afraid that it is not. But between our- 
selves, Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a 
trick in a petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me 
just run over the course of events, and you will contradict me 
if I go wrong.” 

The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk 
upon his breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes 
stuck his feet up on the corner of the mantel-piece, and, lean- 
ing back with his hands in his pockets, began talking, rather 
to himself, as it seemed, than to us. 

“The man married a woman very much older than himself | 
for her money,” said he, “and he enjoyed the use of the 
money of the daughter as long as she lived with them. It 
was a considerable sum, for people in their position, and the 
loss of it would have made a serious difference. It was worth 
an effort to preserve it. The daughter was of a good, amiable 
disposition, but affectionate and warm-hearted in her ways, so 
that it was evident that with her fair personal advantages, 
and her little income, she would not be allowed to remain 
single long. Now her marriage would mean, of course, the 
loss of a hundred a year, so what does her step-father do to 
prevent it? He takes the obvious course of keeping her at 
home, and forbidding her to seek the company of people of 
her own age. But soon he found that that would not answer 
forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and 
finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain 
ball. What does her clever step-father do then? He con- 
ceives an idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. 


**GLANCING ABOUT HIM LIKE A RAT IN A TRAP” 


A CASE OF IDENTITY 73 


With the connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised 
himself, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked 
the face with a mustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk 
that clear voice into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure 
on account of the girl’s short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer 
Angel, and keeps off other lovers by making love himself.” 

“Tt was only a joke at first,” groaned our visitor. ‘We 
never thought that she would have been so carried away.” 

“Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady 
was very decidedly carried away, and having quite made up 
her mind that her step-father was in France, the suspicion of 
treachery never for an instant entered her mind. She was 
flattered by the gentleman’s attentions, and the effect was in- 
creased by the loudly expressed admiration of her mother. 
Then Mr. Angel began to call, for it was obvious that the 
matter should be pushed as far as it would go, if a real effect 
were to be produced. There were meetings, and an engage- 
ment, which would finally secure the girl’s affections from 
turning towards any one else. But the deception could not 
be kept up forever. These pretended journeys to France 
were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to bring 
the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it 
would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady’s 
mind, and prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for 
some time to come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted 
upon a Testament, and hence also the allusions to a possi- 
bility of something happening on the very morning of the 
wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Sutherland to be 
so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to his fate, 
that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not listen 
to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, 
and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished 
away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a four- 
wheeler, and out at the other. I think that that was the chain 
of events, Mr. Windibank !” 

Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while 


74 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


Holmes had been talking, and he rose from his chair now 
with a cold sneer upon his pale face. 

“Tt may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes,” said he, “ but if 
you are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know 
that it is you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I 
have done nothing actionable from the first, but as long as 
you keep that door locked you lay yourself open to an action 
for assault and illegal constraint.” 

“The law cannot, as you say, touch you,” said Holmes, un- 
locking and throwing open the door, “yet there never was a 
man who deserved punishment more. If the young lady has 
a brother or a friend, he ought to lay a whip across your 
shoulders. By Jove!” he continued, flushing up at the sight 
of the bitter sneer upon the man’s face, “it is not part of my 
duties to my client, but here’s a hunting crop handy, and I 
think I shall just treat myself to—” He took two swift steps 
to the whip, but before he could grasp it there was a wild 
clatter of steps upon the stairs, the heavy hall door banged, 
and from the window we could see Mr. James Windibank 
running at the top of his speed down the road. 

“There’s a cold-blooded scoundrel !” said Holmes, laughing, 
as he threw himself down into his chair once more. “That 
fellow will rise from crime to crime until he does something 
very bad, and ends on a gallows. The case has, in some re- 
spects, been not entirely devoid of interest.” 

“TI cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning,” 
I remarked. 

“Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. 
Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious 
conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really 
profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the step- 
father. Then the fact that the two men were never together, 
but that the one always appeared when the other was away, 
was suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curi- 
ous voice, which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy 
whiskers. My suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar 


A CASE OF IDENTITY 75 


action in type-writing his signature, which, of course, inferred 
that his handwriting was so familiar to her that she would 
recognize even the smallest sample of it. You see all these 
isolated facts, together with many minor ones, all pointed in 
the same direction.” 

“ And how did you verify them ?” 

“ Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corrobo- 
ration. I knew the firm for which this man worked. Having 
taken the printed description, I eliminated everything from it 
which could be.the result of a disguise—the whiskers, the 
glasses, the voice, and I sent it to the firm, with a request that 
they would inform me whether it answered to the description 
of any of their travellers. I had already noticed the peculiar- 
ities of the type-writer, and I wrote to the man himself at his 
business address, asking him if he would come here. As I 
expected, his reply was type-written, and revealed the same 
trivial but characteristic defects. ‘The same post brought me 
a letter from Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to 
say that the description tallied in every respect with that of 
their employé, James Windibank. Vozla tout!” 

* And Miss Sutherland ?” 

“Tf I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember 
the old Persian saying, ‘There is danger for him who taketh 
the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion 
from a woman.’ There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Hor- 
ace, and as much knowledge of the world.” 


Adventure 1V 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 


was from Sherlock Holmes, and ran in this way : 

; “Have you a couple of days to spare? Have 
just been wired for from the West of England in connection 
with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad if you will 
come with me. Air and scenery perfect. Leave Paddington 
by the 11.15.” 

“What do you say, dear?” said my wife, looking across at 
me. “Will you go?” 

“T really don’t know what to say. I have a fairly long list 
at present.” 

“Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have 
been looking a little pale lately. I think that the change 
would do you good, and you are always so interested in Mr. 
Sherlock Holmes’s cases.” 

“T should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained 
through one of them,” I answered. ‘But if I am to go, I 
must pack at once, for I have only half an hour.” 

My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had 
the effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My 
wants were few and simple, so that in less than the time 
stated I was in a cab with my valise, rattling away to Pad- 
dington Station. Sherlock Holmes was pacing up and down 
the platform, his tall, gaunt figure made even gaunter and 
taller by his long gray travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth 
cap. | 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY aS 


“Tt is really very good of you to come, Watson,” said he. — 
“Tt makes a considerable difference to me, having some one 
with me on whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always 
either worthless or else biassed. If you will keep the two 
corner seats I shall get the tickets.” 

We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense lit- 
ter of papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among 
these he rummaged and read, with intervals of note-taking 
and of meditation, until we were past Reading. Then he 
suddenly rolled them all into a gigantic ball, and tossed them 
up onto the rack. 

“Have you heard anything of the case?” he asked. 

“Not aword. I have not seen a paper for some days.” 

“The London press has not had very full accounts. I 
have just been looking through all the recent papers in or- 
der to master the particulars. It seems, from what I gather, 
to be one of those simple cases which are so extremely diffi- 
cult.” 

“That sounds a little paradoxical.” 

“ But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably 
aclew. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, 
the more difficult is it to bring-it home. In this case, how- 
ever, they have established a very serious case against the son 
of the murdered man.” 

“Tt is a murder, then ?” 

“Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for 
granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally 
into it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I 
have been able to understand it, in a very few words. 

“Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from 
Ross, in Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in 
that part is a Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Aus- 
tralia, and returned some years ago to the old country. One 
of the farms which he held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. 
Charles McCarthy, who was also an ex-Australian. The men 
had known each other in the colonies, so that it was not unnat- 


78 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


ural that when they came to settle down they should do so 
as near each other as possible. Turner was apparently the 
richer man, so McCarthy became his tenant, but still re- 
mained, it seems, upon terms of perfect equality, as they were 
frequently together. McCarthy had one son, a lad of eigh- 
teen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same age, but 
neither of them had wives living. They appear to have avoid- 
ed the society of the neighboring English families, and to have 
led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of 
sport, and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the 
neighborhood. McCarthy kept two servants—a man and a 
girl. ‘Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen 
at the least. That is as much as I have been able to gather 
about the families. Now for the facts. 

“On June 3, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his 
house at Hatherley about three in the afternoon, and walked 
down to the Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by 
the spreading out of the stream which runs down the Bos- 
combe Valley. He had been out with his serving-man in the 
morning at Ross, and he had told the man that he must hurry, 
as he had an appointment of importance to keep at three. 
From that appointment he never came back alive. 

“From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a 
quarter of a mile, and two people saw him as he passed over 
this ground. One was an old woman, whose name is not 
mentioned, and the other was William Crowder, a game-keep- 
er in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both these witnesses depose 
that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The game-keeper adds 
that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. McCarthy pass he 
had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the same way 
with a gun under his arm. ‘To the best of his belief, the fa- 
ther was actually in sight at the time, and the son was follow- 
ing him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard 
in the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. 

“The two McCarthys were seen after the time when Will- 
iam Crowder, the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Bos- 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 79 


combe Pool is thickly-wooded round, with just a fringe of 
grass and of reeds round the edge. A girl of fourteen, Pa- 
tience Moran, who is the daughter of the lodge- keeper of 
the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the woods pick- 
ing flowers. She states that while she was there she saw, at 
the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. McCarthy 
and his son, and that they appeared to be having a violent 
quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very strong 
language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his hand 
as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their vio- 
lence that she ran away, and told her mother when she reached 
home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near 
Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going 
to fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. 
McCarthy came running up to the lodge to say that he had 
found his father dead in the wood, and to ask for the help of 
the lodge-keeper. He was much excited, without either his 
gun or his hat, and his right hand and sleeve were observed 
to be stained with fresh blood. On following him they found 
the dead body stretched out upon the grass beside the Pool. 
The head had been beaten in by repeated blows of some heavy 
and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as might very 
well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son’s gun, 
which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the 
body. Under these circumstances the young man. was in- 
stantly arrested, and a verdict of ‘ Wilful Murder’ having been 
returned at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday 
brought before the magistrates at Ross, who have referred the 
case to the next assizes. Those are the main facts of the case 
as they came out before the coroner and at the police-court.” 

“TI could hardly imagine a more damning case,” I re- 
marked. ‘If ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a crim- 
inal it does so here.” 

“Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing,” answered 
Holmes, thoughtfully. ‘It may seem to point very straight 
to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, 


80 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


you may find it pointing in an equally uncompromising man- 
ner to something entirely different. It must be confessed, 
however, that the case looks exceedingly grave against the 
young man, and it is very possible that he is indeed the cul- 
prit. There are several people in the neighborhood, however, 
and among them Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighbor- 
ing land-owner, who believe in his innocence, and who have 
retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect in connection 
with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in his interest. 
Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the case to me, 
and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are flying 
westward at fifty miles an hour, instead of quietly digesting 
their breakfasts at home.” 

“T am afraid,” said I, “that the facts are so obvious that 
you will find little credit to be gained out of this case.” 

“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact,” he 
answered, laughing. ‘‘ Besides, we may chance to hit upon 
some other obvious facts which may have been by no means 
obvious to Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that 
I am boasting when I say that I shall either confirm or de- 
stroy his theory by means which he is quite incapable of em- 
ploying, or even of understanding. ‘To take the first example 
to hand, I very clearly perceive that in your bedroom the win- 
dow is upon the right-hand side, and yet I question whether 
Mr. Lestrade would have noted even so self-evident a thing 
as that.” 

“How on earth—” 

“My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military 
neatness which characterizes you. You shave every morning, 
and in this season you shave by the sunlight ; but since your 
shaving is less and less complete as we get farther back on 
the left side, until it becomes positively slovenly as we get 
round the angle of the jaw, it is surely very clear that that side 
is less well illuminated than the other. I could not imagine 
a man of your habits looking at himself in an equal light, and 
being satisfied with such a result. I only quote this as a triv- 


2 SEs 


SF ER. RRO 


eid yee S, 


‘““ THEY FOUND THE BODY “ 


2; 


0 Fa 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 81 


ial example of observation and inference. Therein lies my 
métier, and it is just possible that it may be of some service in 
the investigation which lies before us. There are one or two 
minor points which were brought out in the inquest, and which 
are worth considering.” 

“What are they?” 

“Tt appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but 
after the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of con- 
stabulary informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked 
that he was not surprised to hear it, and that it was no more 
than his deserts. ‘This observation of his had the natural ef- 
effect of removing any traces of doubt which might have re- 
mained in the minds of the coroner’s jury.” 

“Tt was a confession,” I ejaculated. 

‘No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence.” 

“Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it 
was at least a most suspicious remark.” 

“On the contrary,” said Holmes,” “it is the brightest rift 
which I can at present see in the clouds. However innocent 
he might be, he could not be such an absolute imbecile as 
not to see that the circumstances were very black against him. 
Had he appeared surprised at his own arrest, or feigned in- 
dignation at it, I should have looked upon it as highly suspi- 
cious, because such surprise or anger would not be natural 
under the circumstances, and yet might appear to be the best 
policy to a scheming man. His frank acceptance of the situ- 
ation marks him as either an innocent man, or else as a man 
of considerable self-restraint and firmness. As to his remark 
about his deserts, it was also not unnatural if you consider 
that he stood beside the dead body of his father, and that 
there is no doubt that he had that very day so far forgotten 
his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and even, accord- 
ing to the little girl whose evidence is so important, to raise 
his hand as if to strike him. The self-reproach and contri- 
tion which are displayed in his remark appear to me to be the 


signs of a healthy mind, rather than of a guilty one,” 
6 


82 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


I shook my head. “Many men have been hanged on far 
slighter evidence,” I remarked. 

“So they have. And many men have been wrongfully 
hanged.” : 

“What is the young man’s own account of the matter ?” 

“Tt is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, 
though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. 
You will find it here, and may read it for yourself.” 

He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Here- 
fordshire paper, and having turned down the sheet, he point- 
ed out the paragraph in which the unfortunate young man 
had given his own statement of what had occurred. I set- 
tled myself down in the corner of the carriage, and read it 
very carefully. It ran in this way: 

“Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was 
then called, and gave evidence as follows: ‘I had been 
away from home for three days at Bristol, and had only just 
returned upon the morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My fa- 
ther was absent from home at the time of my arrival, and I 
was informed by the maid that he had driven over to Ross 
with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after my return I heard 
the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, looking out of my win- 
dow, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out of the yard, 
though I was not aware in which direction he was going. I 
then took my gun, and strolled out in the direction of the 
Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit-war- 
ren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William 
Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; 
but he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. 
I had no idea that he was in front of me. When about a 
hundred yards from the Pool I heard a cry of “Cooee!’ 
which was a usual signal between my father and myself. I 
then hurried forward, and found him standing by the Pool. 
He appeared to be much surprised at seeing me, and asked 
me rather roughly what I was doing there. A conversation 
ensued which led to high words, and almost to blows, for my 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 83 


father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his 
~ passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him, and returned 
towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 
yards, however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, 
which caused me to run back again. I found my father ex- 
piring upon the ground, with his head terribly injured. I 
dropped my gun, and held him in my arms, but he almost in- 
stantly expired. I knelt beside him for some minutes, and 
then made my way to Mr. Turner’s lodge-keeper, his house 
being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one near 
my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came 
by his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat 
cold and forbidding in his manners; but he had, as far as I 
know, no active enemies. I know nothing further of the 
matter.’ 

“The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you 
before he died? 

““Witness: He mumbled afew words, but I could only catch 
- some allusion to a rat. 

“The Coroner: What did you understand by that? 

“Witness : It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that 
he was delirious. 

“The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and 
your father had this final quarrel ? 

“Witness : I should prefer not to answer. 

“The Coroner : I am afraid that I must press it. 

“Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can 
assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy 
which followed. 

“The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need 
not point out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice 
your case considerably in any future proceedings which may 
arise. 

“Witness : I must still refuse. 

“THe Coroner: I understand that the cry of ‘Cooee’ was 
a common signal between you and your father ? 


84 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“ Witness: It was. | 

‘‘ The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before 
he saw you, and before he even knew that you had returned 
from Bristol ? 

“‘ Witness (with considerable confusion) : I do not know. 

“A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your 
suspicions when you returned on hearing the cry, and found 
your father fatally injured? 

“ Witness: Nothing definite. 

“ The Coroner : What do you mean? 

“Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed 
out into the open, that I could think of nothing except of 
my father. Yet I have a vague impression that as I ran for- 
ward something lay upon the ground to the left of me. It 
seemed to me to be something gray in color, a coat of some 
sort, or a plaid perhaps. When I rose from my father I 
looked round for it, but it was gone. 

“*Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for 
help ?’ 

“Ves, it was gone.’ 

“¢Vou cannot say what it was ?” 

“No, I had a feeling something was there.” ™ 

“ « How far from the body?’ 

“¢¢ A dozen yards or so.’ 

“¢ And how far from the edge of the wood ?’ 

““¢ About the same.’ 

“<«Then if it was removed it was while you were within a 
dozen yards of it ? 

““¢Ves, but with my back towards it.’ 

“This concluded the examination of the witness.” 

“T see,” said I, as I glanced down the column, “ that the 
coroner in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon 
young McCarthy. He calls attention, and with reason, to the 
discrepancy about his father having signalled to him before 
seeing him, also to his refusal to give details of his conversa- 
tion with his father, and his singular account of his father’s 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 85 


dying words. They are all, as he remarks, very much against 
the son.” 

Holmes laughed softly to himself, and stretched himself out 
upon the cushioned seat. ‘ Both you and the coroner have 
been at some pains,” said he, “to single out the very strongest 
points in the young man’s favor. Don’t you see that you 
alternately give him credit for having too much imagination 
and too little. Too little, if he could not invent a cause of 
quarrel which would give him the sympathy of the jury ; too 
much, if he evolved from his own inner consciousness any- 
thing so outré as a dying reference to a rat, and the incident 
of the vanishing cloth. No, sir, I shall approach this case 
from the point of view that what this young man says is true, 
and we shall see whither that hypothesis will lead us. And 
now here is my pocket Petrarch, and not another word shall 
I say of this case until we are on the scene of action. We 
lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be there in twenty 
minutes.” 

It was nearly four o’clock when we at last, after passing 
through the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleam- 
ing Severn, found ourselves at the pretty little country-town 
of Ross. A lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was 
waiting for us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown 
dustcoat and leather-leggings which he wore in deference to 
his rustic surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognizing 
Lestrade, of Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the 
Hereford Arms, where a room had already been engaged 
for us. 

“T have ordered a carriage,” said Lestrade, as we sat over 
a cup of tea. “I knew your energetic nature, and that you 
would not be happy until you had been on the scene. of the 
crime.” 

“Tt was very nice and complimentary of you,’ Holmes 
answered. “It is entirely a question of barometric pressure.” 

Lestrade looked startled. “I do not quite follow,” he 
said. 


86 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and 
not a cloud in the sky. I have'a caseful of cigarettes here 
which need smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to 
the usual country hotel abomination. I do not think that it 
is probable that I shall use the carriage to-night.” 

Lestrade laughed indulgently. ‘ You have, no doubt, al- 
ready formed your conclusions from the newspapers,” he said. 
“The case is as plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes 
into it the plainer it becomes. Still, of course, one can’t re- 
fuse a lady, and such a very positive one, too. She had heard 
of you, and would have your opinion, though I repeatedly told 
her that there was nothing which you could do which I had 
not already done. Why, bless my soul! here is her carriage 
at the door.” 

He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room 
one of the most lovely young women that I have ever seen 
in my life. Her violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink 
flush upon her cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost 
in her overpowering excitement and concern. 

“Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!” she cried, glancing from one 
to the other of us, and finally, with a woman’s quick intuition, 
fastening upon my companion, “I am so glad that you have 
come. I have driven down to tell you so. I know that James 
didn’t do it. I know it, and I want you to start upon your 
work knowing it, too. Never let yourself doubt upon that 
point. We have known each other since we were little chil- 
dren, and I know his faults as no one else does ; but he is too 
tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a charge is absurd to any 
one who really knows him.” | 

“T hope we may clear him, Miss Turner,” said Sherlock 
Holmes. ‘ You may rely upon my doing all that I can.” 

** But you have read the evidence. You have formed some 
conclusion ?* Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do 
you not yourself think that he is innocent ? 

“IT think that it is very probable.” 

“ There, now!” she cried, throwing back her head, and 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY $7 


looking defiantly at Lestrade. “You hear! He gives me 
hopes.” 

“Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. “I am afraid that my 
colleague has been a little quick in forming his conclusions,” 
he said. 

“ But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James 
never did it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure 
that the reason why he would not speak about it to the cor- 
oner was because I was concerned in it.” 

“In what way?” asked Holmes. 

“Tt is no time for me to hide anything. James and his 
father had many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was 
very anxious that there should be a marriage between us. 
James and I have always loved each other as brother and sis- 
er; but of course he is young, and has seen very little of life 
~ yet, and—and—well, he naturally did not wish to do anything 
like that yet. So there were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was 
one of them.” 

“ And your father ?’ asked Holmes. ‘ Was he in favor of 
such a union ?”’ : 

** No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy 
was in favor of it.” A quick blush passed over her fresh 
young face as Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning. 
glances at her. 

“Thank you for this information,” said he. ‘“ May I see 
your father if I call to-morrow ?” 

“‘T.am afraid the doctor won’t allow it.” 

“The doctor ?” 

“Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been 
strong for years back, but this has broken him down com- 
pletely. He has taken to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that 
he is a wreck, and that his nervous system is shattered. Mr. 
McCarthy was the only man alive who had known dad in the 
old days in Victoria.” 

“Ha! In Victoria! ‘That is important.” 

“Yes, at the mines.” 


88 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. 
Turner made his money. 

“ Yes, certainly.” : 

“Thank you, Miss Turner. You. have been of material 
assistance to me.” 

“You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No 
doubt you will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, 
Mr. Holmes, do tell him that I know him to be innocent.” 

“*T will, Miss Turner.” 

*T must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses 
me so if I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your 
undertaking.” She hurried from the room as impulsively as 
she had entered, and we heard the wheels of her carriage rat- 
tle off down the street. 

“T am ashamed of you, Holmes,” said Lestrade, with dig- 
nity, after a few minutes’ silence. ‘ Why should you raise up 
hopes which you are bound to disappoint? I am not over- 
tender of heart, but I call it cruel.” 

“T think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy,” 
said Holmes. ‘ Have you an order to see him in prison.” 

“ Yes, but only for you and me.” 

“Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out.. 
We have still time to take a train to Hereford and see him 
to-night ?” 

“* Ample.” : 

“Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it 
very slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours.” 

I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered 
through the streets of the little town, finally returning to the 
hotel, where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in 
a yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, 
however, when compared to the deep mystery through which 
we were groping, and I found my attention wander so contin- 
ually from the fiction to the fact, that I at last flung it across 
the room, and gave myself up entirely to a consideration of 
the events of the day. Supposing that this unhappy young 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY > . 89 


man’s story was absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what 
absolutely unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have 
occurred between the time when he parted from his father, 
and the moment when, drawn back by his screams, he rushed 
into the glade? It was something terrible and deadly. What 
could it be? Might not the nature of the injuries reveal 
something to my medical instincts? I rang the bell, and called 
for the weekly county paper, which contained a verbatim ac- 
count of the inquest. In the surgeon’s deposition it was stated 
that the posterior third of the left parietal bone and the 
left half of the occipital bone had been shattered by a heavy 
blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot upon my 
own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from 
behind. ‘That was to some extent in favor of the accused, as 
when seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. 
Still, it did not go for very much, for the older man might have 
turned his back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth 
while to call Holmes’s attention to it. Then there was the 
peculiar dying reference to a rat. What could that mean? It 
could not be delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow 
does not commonly become delirious. No, it was more likely 
to be an attempt to explain how he met his fate. But what 
could it indicate? I cudgelled my brains to find some pos- 
sible explanation. And then the incident of the gray cloth, 
seen by young McCarthy. If that were true, the murderer 
must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his 
overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to 
return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was 
kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a 
tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! 
I did not wonder at Lestrade’s opinion, and yet I had so much 
faith in Sherlock Holmes’s insight that I could not lose hope 
as long as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his convic- 
tion of young McCarthy’s innocence. 

It was late before Sherlock Holmes: returned. He came 
back alone, for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. 


\ 


go ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“The glass still keeps very high,” he remarked, as he sat 
down. It is of importance that it should not rain before we 
are able to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man 
should be at his very best and keenest for such nice work as 
that, and I did not wish to do it when fagged by a long 
journey. I have seen young McCarthy.” 

“And what did you learn from him ?” 

“ Nothing.” 

“ Could he throw no light ?” 

* None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he 
knew who had done it, and was screening him or her, but I 
am convinced now that he is as puzzled as every one else. He 
is not a very quick-witted youth, though comely to look at, 
and, I should think, sound at heart.” 

“T cannot admire his taste,” I remarked, “ if it is indeed a 
fact that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a 
young lady as this Miss Turner.” 

“Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is 
madly, insanely in love with her, but some two years ago, 
when he was only a lad, and before he really knew her, for 
she had been away five years at a boarding-school, what does 
the idiot do but get into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol, 
and marry her at a registry office? No one knows a word of 
the matter, but you can imagine how maddening it must be to 
him to be upbraided for not doing what he would give his 
very eyes to do, but what he knows to be absolutely impos- 
sible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort which made him throw 
his hands up into the air when his father, at their last inter- 
view, was goading him on to propose to Miss Turner. On the 
other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, and his 
father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would have 
thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with 
his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in 
Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark 
that point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, 
however, for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY Ol 


in serious trouble, and likely to be hanged, has thrown him 
over utterly, and has written to him to say that she has a 
husband already in the Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is 
really no tie between them. I think that that bit of news has 
consoled young McCarthy for all that he has suffered.” 

“ But if he is innocent, who has done it?” 

“Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly 
to two points. One is that the murdered man had an ap- 
pointment with some one at the Pool, and that the some one 
could not have been his son, for his son was away, and he did 
not know when he would return. The second is that the 
murdered man was heard to cry ‘Cooee!’ before he knew 
that his son had returned. Those are the crucial points upon 
which the case depends. And now let us talk about George 
Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all minor matters 
until to-morrow.” 

There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morn- 
ing broke bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade 
called for us with the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley 
Farm and the Boscombe Pool. 

“There is serious news this morning,” Lestrade observed. 
“It is said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life 
is despaired of.” 

“ An elderly man, I presume?” said Holmes. 

“About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by 
his life abroad, and he has been in failing health for some 
time. This business has had a very bad effect upon him. 
He was an old friend of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great 
benefactor to him, for I have learned that he gave him 
Hatherley Farm rent free.” 

“Indeed! That is interesting,” said Holmes. 

“Oh yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. 
Everybody about here speaks of his kindness to him.” 

“Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that 
this McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and 
to have been under such obligations to Turner, should still 


92 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


talk of marrying his son to Turner’s daughter, who is, presum- 
ably, heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure 
manner, as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else 
would follow? It is the more strange, since we know that 
Turner himself was averse to the idea. The daughter told us 
as much. Do you not deduce something from that ?” 

“We have got to the deductions and the inferences,” said 
Lestrade, winking at me. “I find it hard enough to tackle 
facts, Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies.” 

“ You are right,” said Holmes, demurely; “you do find it 
very hard to tackle the facts.” 

“‘ Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it 
difficult to get hold of,” replied Lestrade, with some warmth. 

“ And that is—” 

“That McCarthy, senior, met his death from McCarthy, 
junior, and that all theories to the contrary are the merest 
moonshine.” 

“Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog,” said 
Holmes, laughing. “But I am very much mistaken if this 
is not Hatherley Farm upon the left.” 

“Yes, that is it.” It was a wide-spread, comfortable- -looking 
building, two-storied, slate roofed, with great yellow blotches of 
lichen upon the gray walls. The drawn blinds and the smoke- 
less chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the 
weight of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the 
door, when the maid, at Holmes’s request, showed us the boots 
which her master wore at the time of his death, and also a 
pair of the son’s, though not the pair which he had then had. 
Having measured these very carefully from seven or eight 
different points, Holmes desired to be led to the court-yard, 
from which we all followed the vanciing track which led to 
Boscombe Pool. 

Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon 
such a scent at this. Men who had only known the quiet 
thinker and logician of Baker Street would have failed to 
recognize him. His face flushed and darkened. His brows 


‘*THE MAID SHOWED US THE BOOTS.”’ 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 93 


were drawn into two hard, black lines, while his eyes shone 
out from beneath them with a steely glitter. His face was 
bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips compressed, 
and the veins stood out like whip-cord in his long, sinewy 
neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal lust 
for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated 
upon the matter before him,-that a question or remark fell un- 
heeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, 
impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his 
way along the track which ran through the meadows, and so 
by way of the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, 
marshy ground, as is all that district, and there were marks 
of many feet, both upon the path and amid the short grass 
which bounded it on either side. Sometimes Holmes would 
hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and once he made quite a lit- 
tle détour into the meadow. Lestrade and I walked behind 
him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, while I 
watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the 
conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards 
a definite end. 

The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of 
water some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary be- 
tween the Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy 
Mr. Turner. Above the woods which lined it upon the farther 
side we could see the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the 
site of the rich land-owner’s dwelling. On the Hatherley side 
of the Pool the woods grew very thick, and there was a narrow 
belt of sodden grass twenty paces across between the edge 
of the trees and the reeds which lined the lake. Lestrade 
showed us the exact spot at which the body had been found, 
and, indeed, so moist was the ground, that I could plainly see 
the traces which had been left by the fall of the stricken man. 
To Holmes, as I could see by his eager face and peering eyes, 
very many other things were to be read upon the trampled 
grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking up a scent, 
and then turned upon my companion. 


94 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“What did you go into the Pool for?” he asked. 

“T fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some 
weapon or other trace. But how on earth—” 

“Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours 
with its inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace 
it, and there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it 
would all have been had I been here before they came like a 
herd of buffalo, and wallowed all over it. Here is where the 
party with the lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all 
tracks for six or eight feet round the body. But here are 
three separate tracks of the same feet.” He drew out a lens, 
and lay down upon his waterproof to have a better view, talk- 
ing all the time rather to himself than to us. “These are 
young McCarthy’s feet. Twice he was walking, and once he 
ran swiftly so that the soles are deeply marked, and the heels 
hardly visible. That bears out his story. He ran when he 
saw his father on the ground. Then here are the father’s feet 
as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It is the butt- 
end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? Ha, 
ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, 
quite unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again— 
of course that was for the cloak. Now where did they come 
' from?” He ran up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes 
finding the track until we were well within the edge of the 
wood, and under the shadow of a great beech, the largest tree 
in the neighborhood. Holmes traced his way to the farther 
side of this, and lay down once more upon his face with a lit- 
tle cry of satisfaction. For a long time he remained there, 
turning over the leaves and dried sticks, gathering up what 
seemed to me to be dust into an envelope, and examining 
with his lens not only the ground, but even the bark of the 
tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying 
among the moss, and this also he carefully examined and re- 
tained. Then he followed a pathway through the wood until 
he came to the high-road, where all traces were lost. 

“It has been a case of considerable interest,” he remarked, 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 95 


returning to his natural manner. “I fancy that this gray 
house on the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go 
in and have a word with Moran, and perhaps write a little 
note. Having done that, we may drive back to our luncheon. 
You may walk to the cab, and I shall be with you presently.” 

It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab, and 
drove back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the 
stone which he had picked up in the wood. 

** This may interest you, Lestrade,” he remarked, holding it 
out. ‘The murder was done with it.” 

**T see no marks.” 

“There are none.” 

“How do you know, then ?” 

“The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a 
few days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been 
taken. It corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of 
any other weapon.” 

“ And the murderer ?” 

“Ts a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears 
thick-soled shooting-boots and a gray cloak, smokes Indian 
cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt penknife in his 
pocket. There are several other indications, but these may 
be enough to aid us in our search.” 

Lestrade laughed. “I am afraid that I am still a sceptic,” 
he said. ‘Theories are all very well, but we have to deal 
with a hard-headed British jury.” 

“ Nous verrons,” answered Holmes, calmly. ‘“ You work 
your own method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy 
this afternoon, and shall probably return to London by the 
evening train.” 

“ And leave your case unfinished ?” 

*“* No, finished.” 

“But the mystery ?” 

“Tt is solved.” 

“Who was the criminal, then ?” 

“The gentleman I describe.” 


96 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“ But who is he ?” oe 

“Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not 
such a populous neighborhood.” 

Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. “I am a practical man,” 
he said, “and I really cannot undertake to go about the coun- 
try looking for a left-handed gentleman with a game-leg. I 
should become the laughing-stock of Scotland Yard.” 

“ All right,” said Holmes, quietly. “I have given you the 
chance. Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop 
you a line before I leave.” 

Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, 
where we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent 
and buried in thought with a pained expression upon his face, 
as one who finds himself in a perplexing position. 

“Look here, Watson,” he said, when the cloth was cleared ; 
‘just sit down in this chair and let me preach to you for a 
little. I don’t quite know what to do, and I should value your 
advice. Light a cigar, and let me expound.” 

“Pray do so.” : 

“Well, now, in considering this case there are two points 
about young McCarthy’s narrative which struck us both in- 
stantly, although they impressed me in his favor and you 
against him. One was the fact that his father should, accord- 
ing to his account, cry ‘Cooee!’ before seeing him. The 
other was his singular dying reference to a rat. He mumbled 
several words, you understand, but that was all that caught 
the son’s ear. Now from this double point our research must 
commence, and we will begin it by presuming that what the 
lad says is absolutely true.” 

“What of this ‘ Cooee!’ then ?” 

“Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. 
The son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere 
chance that he was within ear-shot. The ‘Cooee!’ was meant 
to attract the attention of whoever it was that he had the ap- 
pointment with. But ‘Cooee’ is a distinctly Australian cry, 
and one which is used between Australians. ‘There is a strong 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 97 


presumption that the person whom McCarthy expected to 
meet him at Boscombe Pool was some one who had been in 
Australia.” 7 

“ What of the rat, then ?” 

Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and 
flattened it out on the table. “ This is a map of the Colony 
of Victoria,” he said. “I wired to Bristol for it last night.” 
He put his hand over part of the map. “ What do you read?” 
he asked. 

“ ARAT,” I read. 

“And now?” He raised his hand. 

“ BALLARAT.” 

“Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of 
which his son only caught the last two syllables. He was try- 
ing to utter the name of his murderer. So-and-so, of Ballarat.” 

“Tt is wonderful !” I exclaimed. 

“ It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field 
down considerably. The possession of a gray garment was a 
third point which, granting the son’s statement to be correct, 
was a certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness 
to the definite conception of an Australian from Ballarat with 
a gray cloak.” 

“ Certainly.” 

“ And one who was at home in the district, for the Pool 
can only be approached by the farm or by the estate, where 
strangers could hardly wander.” 

“ Quite so.” 

“Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination 
of the ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that 
imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal.” 

“‘ But how did you gain them ?” 

“You know my method. It is founded upon the observ- 
ance of trifles.” | 

“ His height I know that you might roughly judge from the 
length of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their 
traces.” 

7 


98 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Yes, they were peculiar boots.” 

“‘ But his lameness ?” 

“The impression of his right foot was always less distinct 
than his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because 
he limped—he was lame.” 

“ But his left-handedness.”’ 

“You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as 
recorded by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck 
from immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. 
Now, how can that be unless it were by a left-handed man? 
He had stood behind that tree during the interview between 
the father and son. He had even smoked there. I found the 
ash of a cigar, which my special knowledge of tobacco ashes 
enabled me to pronounce as an Indian cigar. I have, as you 
know, devoted some attention to this, and written a little 
monograph on the ashes of 140 different varieties of pipe, 
cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the ash, I then 
looked round and discovered the stump among the moss 
where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety 
which are rolled in Rotterdam.” 

“ And the cigar-holder ?” 

“T could see that the end had not been in his mouth. 
Therefore he used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not 
bitten off, but the cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a 
blunt pen-knife.” 

“ Holmes,” I said, “you have drawn a net round this man 
from which he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent 
human life as truly as if you had cut the cord which was hang- 
ing him. I see the direction in which all this points. The 
culprit is—”’ 

“Mr. John Turner,” cried the hotel waiter, opening the door 
of our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. 

The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. 
His slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appear- 
ance of decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy feat- 
ures, and his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 99 


of unusual strength of body and of character. His tangled 
beard, grizzled hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows com- 
bined to give an air of dignity and power to his appearance, 
but his face was of an ashen white, while his lips and the cor- 
ners of his nostrils were tinged with a shade of blue. It was 
clear to me at a glance that he was in the grip of some deadly 
and chronic disease. 

‘Pray sit down on the sofa,” said Holmes, gently. “You 
had my note 2” 

“Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you 
wished to see me here to avoid scandal.” 

“T thought people would talk if I went to the Hall.” 

“And why did you wish to see me?” He looked across at 
my companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his. 
question was already answered. 

“Yes,” said Holmes, answering the look rather than the 
words. “Itis so. I know all about McCarthy.” 

The old man sank his face in his hands. ‘God help me!” 
he cried. “ But I would not have let the young man come to 
harm. I give you my word that I would have spoken out if it 
went against him at the Assizes.” 

“T am glad to hear you say so,” said Holmes, gravely. 

“T would have spoken now had it not been for my dear 
girl. It would break her heart—it will break her heart when 
she hears that I am arrested.” 

“Tt may not come to that,” said Holmes. 

“What!” 

“T am no official agent. I understand that it was your 
daughter who required my presence here, and I am acting in 
. her interests. Young McCarthy must be got off, however.” 

“T am a dying man,” said old Turner. “I have had dia- 
betes for years. My doctor says it is a question whether I 
shall live a month. Yet I would rather die under my own 
roof than in a jail.” 

Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his 
hand and a bundle of paper before him. “ Just tell us the 


100 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


truth,” he said. “I shall jot down the facts. You will sign 
it, and Watson here can witness it. Then I could produce 
your confession at the last extremity to save young McCarthy. 
I promise you that I shall not use it unless it is absolutely 
needed.”’ . 

“It’s as well,” said the old man; “it’s a question whether 
I shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I 
should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make 
the thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, 
but will not take me long to tell. 

“You didn’t know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a 
devil incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the 
clutches of such a man as he. His grip has been upon me 
these twenty years, and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you 
first how I came to be in his power. 

“Tt was in the early sixties at the diggings. I was a young 
chap then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand 
at anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had 
no luck with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word be- 
came what you would call over here a highway robber. There 
were six of us, and we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a 
station from time to time, or stopping the wagons on the road 
to the diggings. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went 
under, and our party is still remembered in the colony as the 
Ballarat Gang. 

“One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Mel- 
bourne, and we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were 
six troopers and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emp- 
tied four of their saddles at the first volley. Three of our 
boys were killed, however, before we got the swag. I put my 
pistol to the head of the wagon-driver, who was this very man 
McCarthy. I wish to the Lord that I had shot him then, but 
I spared him, though I saw his wicked little eyes fixed on my 
face, as though to remember every feature. We got away with 
the gold, became wealthy men, and made our way over to 
England without being suspected. There I parted from my 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY Io! 


old pals, and determined to settle down to a quiet and respect- 
able life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in the 
market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, 
to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, 
too, and though my wife died young, she left me my dear little 
Alice. Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed 
to lead me down the right path as nothing else had ever done. 
In a word, I turned over a new leaf, and did my best to make 
up for the past. All was going well when McCarthy laid his 
grip upon me. 

“T had gone up to town about an investment, and I met 
him in Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot 
to his foot. 

“*Here we are, Jack,’ says he, touching me on the arm; 

‘we'll be as good as a family to you. There’s two of us, me 
and my son, and you can have the keeping of us. If you 
don’t— it’s a fine, law-abiding country is England, and there’s 
always a policeman within hail.’ 

“Well, down they came to the West country, there was no 
shaking them off, and there they have lived rent free on my 
best land ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no 
forgetfulness; turn where I would, there was his cunning, 
grinning face at my elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, 
for he soon saw I was more afraid of her knowing my past 
than of the police. . Whatever he wanted he must have, and 
whatever it was I gave him without question, land, money, 
houses, until at last he asked a thing which I could not give. 
He asked for Alice. 

“His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and 
as I was known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke 
to him that his lad should step into the whole property. But 
there I was firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed 
with mine; not that I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood 
was in him, and that was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy 
threatened. I braved him to do his worst. We were to meet 
at the Pool midway between our houses to talk it over. 


102 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“When I went down there I found him talking with his 
son, so I smoked a cigar, and waited behind a tree until he 
should be alone. But as I listened to his talk all that was 
black and bitter in me seemed to come uppermost. He was 
urging his son to marry my daughter with as little regard for 
what she might think as if she were a slut from off the streets. 
It drove me mad to think that I and all that I held most dear 
should be in the power of such a man as this. Could I not 
snap the bond? I was already a dying and a desperate man. 
Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, I knew that 
my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! 
Both could be saved, if I could but silence that foul tongue. 
I did it, Mr. Holmes. I would doit again. Deeply as I have 
sinned, I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But 
that my girl should be entangled in the same meshes which 
held me was more than I could suffer. I struck him down 
with no more compunction than if he had been some foul and 
venomous beast. His cry brought back his son; but I had 
gained the cover of the wood, though I was forced to go back 
to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in my flight. That is 
the true story, gentlemen, of all that occurred.” 

“Well, it is not for me to judge you,” said Holmes, as the 
old man signed the statement which had been drawn out. 
‘“‘T pray that we may never be exposed to such a temptation.” 

“T pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?” 

“Tn view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware 
that you will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher 
court than the Assizes. I will keep your confession, and, if 
McCarthy is condemned, I shall be forced to use it. If not, 
it shall never be seen by mortal eye; and your secret, wheth- 
er you be alive or dead, shall be safe with us.” 

“ Farewell, then,” said the old man, solemnly. ‘Your own 
death-beds, when they come, will be the easier for the thought 
of the peace which you have given to mine.” ‘Tottering and 
shaking in all his giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the 
room, 


THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 103 


“God help us!” said Holmes, after a long silence. ‘“ Why 
does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I nev- 
er hear of such a case as this that I do not think of Baxter’s 
words, and say, ‘There, but for the grace of God, goes Sher- 
lock Holmes.’ ” 

James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes, on the 
strength of a number of objections which had been drawn out 
by Holmes, and submitted to the defending counsel. Old 
Turner lived for seven months after our interview, but he is 
now dead; and there is every prospect that the son and 
daughter may come to live happily together, in ignorance of 
the black cloud which rests upon their past. 


Adventure W 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 


ZYREHEN I glance over my notes and records of the 
Ne Sherlock Holmes cases between the years ’82 and 
‘ ’90, Iam faced by so many which present strange 
34 and interesting features that it is no easy matter 
to ore which to choose and which to leave. Some, how- 
ever, have already gained publicity through the papers, and 
others have not offered a field for those peculiar qualities 
which my friend possessed in so high a degree, and which it 
is the object of these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have 
baffled his analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, begin- 
nings without an ending, while others have been but partially 
cleared up, and have their explanations founded rather upon 
conjecture and surmise than on that absolute logical proof 
which was so dear to him. ‘There is, however, one of these 
last which was so remarkable in its details and so startling in 
its results that I am tempted to give some account of it, in 
spite of the fact that there are points in connection with it 
which never have been, and probably never will be, entirely 
cleared up. 

The year ’87 furnished us with a long series of cases of 
greater or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among 
my headings under this one twelve months I find an account 
of the adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur 
Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower 
vault of a furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the 
loss of the British bark Sophy Anderson, of the singular ad- 
ventures of the Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 105 


finally of the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as 
may be remembered, Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding 
up the dead man’s watch, to prove that it had been wound up 
two hours before, and that therefore the deceased had gone to 
bed within that time—a deduction which was of the greatest 
importance in clearing up the case. All these I may sketch 
out at some future date, but none of them present such singu- 
lar features as the strange train of citcumstances which I have 
now taken up my pen to describe. 

It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial 
gales had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind 
had.screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, 
so that even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we 
were forced to raise our minds for the instant from the rou- 
tine of life, and to recognize the presence of those great ele- 
‘mental forces which shriek at mankind through the bars of 
his civilization, like untamed beasts in a cage. As evening 
drew in, the storm grew higher and louder, and the wind cried 
and sobbed like a child in the chimney. Sherlock Holmes 
sat moodily at one side of the fireplace cross- indexing his 
records of crime, while I at the other was deep in one of Clark 
Russell’s fine sea-stories, until the howl of the gale from with- 
out seemed to blend with the text, and the splash of the rain 
to lengthen out into the long swash of the sea waves. My 
wife was on a visit to her mother’s, and for a few days I was 
a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street. 

“Why,” said I, glancing up at my companion, “that was 
surely the bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of 
yours, perhaps?” 

“Except yourself I have none,” he answered. “I do not en- 
courage visitors.” 

“ A client, then ?” 

“Tf so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a 
man out on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it 
that it is more likely to be some crony of the landlady’s.” 

Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for 


106 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


there came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. 
He stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from 
himself and towards the vacant chair upon which a néw-comer 
must sit. “Come in!” said he. 

The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at 
the outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of 
refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The steaming um- 
brella which he held in his hand, and his long shining water- 
proof told of the fierce weather through which he had come. 
He looked about him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and 
I could see that his face was pale and his eyes heavy, like 
those of a man who is weighed down with some great anxiety. 

“T owe you an apology,” he said, raising his golden pznce- 
nez to his eyes. “I trust that I am not intruding. I fear 
that I have brought some traces of the storm and rain into 
your snug chamber.” | 

“Give me your coat and umbrella,” said Holmes. “They 
may rest here on the hook, and will be dry presently. You 
have come up from the south-west, I see.” 

‘Ves, from Horsham.” 

“That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe- 
caps is quite distinctive.” 

“T have come for advice.” 

“That is easily got.” 

* And help.” 

“That is not always so easy.” 

“T have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major 
Prendergast how you saved him in the Tankerville Club 
Scandal.” 

“Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at 
cards.” 

“He said that you could solve anything.” 

“He said too much.” 

“That you are never beaten.” 

“T have been beaten four times—three times by men, and 
once by a woman.” 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 107 


“ But what is that compared with the number of your suc- 
cesses ?” 

“Tt is true that I have been generally successful.” 

“‘Then you may be so with me.” 

“T beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire, and fa- 
vor me with some details as to your case.” 

“Tt is no ordinary one.” 

“None of those which come to me are. I am the last court 
of appeal.” 

“ And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, 
you have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable 
chain of events than those which have happened in my own 
family.” 

“Vou fill me with interest,” said Holmes. “Pray give us 
_ the essential facts from the commencement, and I can after- 
wards question you as to those details which seem to me to be 
most important.” 

The young man pulled his chair up, and pushed his wet 
feet out towards the blaze. 

“My name,” said he, “is John Openshaw, but my own af- 
fairs have, as far as I can understand it, little to do with this 
awful business. It is an hereditary matter; so in order to give 
you an idea of the facts, I must go back to the commence- 
ment of the affair. 

“Vou must know that my grandfather had two sons—my 
uncle Elias and my father Joseph. My father had a small 
factory at Coventry, which he enlarged at the time of the in- 
vention of bicycling. He was the patentee of the Openshaw 
unbreakable tire, and his business met with such success that 
he was able to sell it, and to retire upon a handsome compe- 
tence. 

“My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a 
young man, and became a planter in Florida, where he was 
reported to have done very well. At the time of the war 
he fought in Jackson’s army, and afterwards under Hood, 
where he rose to be a colonel. When Lee laid down his arms 


108 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES . 


my uncle returned to his plantation, where he remained for 
three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came back to 
Europe, and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. 
He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and 
his reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, 
and his dislike of the Republican policy in extending the 
franchise to them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick- 
tempered, very foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a 
most retiring disposition. During all the years that he lived 
at Horsham I doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had 
a garden and two or three fields round his house, and there 
he would take his exercise, though very often for weeks on 
end he would never leave his room. He drank a great deal 
of brandy, and smoked very heavily, but he would see no so- 
ciety, and did not want any friends, not even his own brother. 

“He didn’t mind me, in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at 
the time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or 
so. This would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight 
or nine years in England. He begged my father to let me 
live with him, and he was very kind to me in his way. When 
he was sober he used to be fond of playing backgammon and 
draughts with me, and he would make me his representative 
both with the servants and with the tradespeople, so that by 
the time that I was sixteen I was quite master of the house. 
. I kept all the keys, and could go where I liked and do what I 
liked, so long as I did not disturb him in his privacy. There 
was one singular exception, however, for he had a single room, 
a lumber-room up among the attics, which was invariably 
locked, and which he would never permit either me or anyone 
else to enter. With a boy’s curiosity I have peeped through 
the key-hole, but I was never able to see more than such a 
collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in 
such a room. . 

“One day—it was in March, 1883—a letter with a foreign 
stamp lay upon the table in front of the Colonel’s plate. It 
was not acommon thing for him to receive letters, for his bills 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 109 


were all paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any 
sort. ‘From India!’ said he, as he took it up, ‘ Pondicherry 
postmark! What can this be? Opening it hurriedly, out 
there jumped five little dried orange pips, which pattered 
down upon his plate. I began to laugh at this, but the laugh 
was struck from my lips at the sight of his face. His lip had 
fallen, his eyes were protruding, his skin the color of putty, 
and he glared at the envelope which he still held in his trem- 
bling hand. ‘K.K. K.!’ he shrieked, and then, ‘My God, my 
God, my sins have overtaken me!’ 

“¢ What is it, uncle?’ I cried. 

“* Death,’ said he, and rising from the table he retired to 
his room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the 
envelope, and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, 
just above the gum, the letter K three times repeated. There 
was nothing else save the five dried pips. What could be the 
reason of his overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, 
and as I ascended the stair I met him coming down with an 
old rusty key, which must have belonged to the attic, in one 
hand, and a small brass box, like a cash-box, in the other. 

“<«They may do what they like, but I’ll checkmate them 
still,’ said he, with an oath. ‘Tell Mary that I shall want a 
fire in my room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Hors- 
ham lawyer.’ 

“I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was 
asked to step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, 
and in the grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of 
burned paper, while the brass box stood open and empty be- 
side it. As I glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that 
upon the lid were printed the treble K which I had read in the 
morning upon the envelope. 

“*T wish you, John,’ said my uncle, ‘to witness my will. I 
leave my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvan- 
tages to my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, de- 
scend to you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! 
If you find you cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it 


510 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


to your deadliest enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two- 
edged thing, but I can’t say what turn things are going to 
take. Kindly sign the paper where Mr. Fordham shows you.’ 

“T signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it 
away with him. The singular incident made, as you may 
think, the deepest impression upon me, and I pondered over 
it, and turned it every way in my mind without being able to 
make anything of it. Yet I could not shake off the vague 
feeling of dread which it left behind though the sensation 
grew less keen as the weeks passed, and nothing happened to 
disturb the usual routine of our lives. I could see a change 
in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, and he was 
less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his time he 
would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the in- 
side, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken 
frenzy, and would burst out of the house and tear about the 
garden with a revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was 
afraid of no man, and that he was not to be cooped up, like a 
sheep in a pen, by man or devil. When these hot fits were 
over, however, he would rush tumultuously in at the door, and 
lock and bar it behind him, like a man who can brazen it out 
no longer against the terror which lies at the roots of his soul. 
At such times I have seen his face, even on a cold day, glis- 
ten with moisture, as though it were new raised from a 
basin. } | : 

“Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and 
not to abuse your patience, there came a night when he made 
one of those drunken sallies from which he never came back. 
We found him, when we went to search for him, face down- 
ward in a little green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of 
the garden. There was no sign of any violence, and the wa- 
ter was but two feet deep, so that the jury, having regard to 
his known eccentricity, brought in a verdict of suicide. But 
I, who knew how he winced from the very thought of death, 
had much ado to persuade myself that he had gone out of his 
way to meet it. The matter passed, however, and my father 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS II! 


entered into possession of the estate, and of some £14,000, 
which lay to his credit at the bank.” 

“One moment,” Holmes interposed. ‘ Your statement is, 
I foresee, one of the most remarkable to which I have ever 
listened. Let me have the date of the reception by your un- 
cle of the letter, and the date of his supposed suicide.” 

“The latter arrived on March to, 1883. His death was 
seven weeks later, upon the night of May 2d.” 

“Thank you. Pray proceed.” 

“When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at 
my request, made a careful examination of the attic, which 
had been always locked up. We found the brass box there, 
although its contents had been destroyed. On the inside of 
the cover was a paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. re- 
peated upon it, and ‘ Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a reg- 
ister’ written beneath. These, we presume, indicated the 
nature of the papers which had been destroyed by Colonel 
Openshaw. For the rest, there was nothing of much impor- 
tance in the attic, save a great many scattered papers and 
note-books bearing upon my uncle’s life in America. Some of 
them were of the war time, and showed that he had done his 
duty well, and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. Oth- 
ers were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern 
States, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had 
evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag poli- . 
ticians who had been sent down from the North. 

“Well, it was the beginning of ’84 when my father came to 
live at Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until 
the January of ’85. On the fourth day after the new year I 
heard my father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat to- 
gether at the breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a 
newly-opened envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips 
in the outstretched palm of the other one. He had always 
laughed at what he called my cock-and-a-bull story about the 
Colonel, but he looked very scared and puzzled now that the 
same thing had come upon himself. 


112 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Why, what on earth does this mean, John?’ he stam- 
mered. 

“‘ My heart had turned to lead. ‘It is K. K. K.,’ said I. 

“ He looked inside the envelope. ‘So it is,’ he cried. 
‘Here are the very letters. But what is this written above 
them ?’ 

“‘¢Put the papers on the sundial,’ I read, peeping over his 
shoulder. 

“‘¢What papers? What sundial?’ he asked. 

“‘«'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,’ said I; 
‘but the papers must be those that are destroyed.’ 

*** Pooh! said he, gripping hard at his courage. ‘We are 
in a civilized land here, and we can’t have tomfoolery of this 
kind. Where does the thing come from ?’ 

“From Dundee,’ I answered, glancing at the post-mark. 

*“«¢ Some preposterous practical joke,’ said he. ‘What have 
I to do with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of 
such nonsense.’ 

“¢«T should certainly speak to the police,’ I said. 

““¢ And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.’ 

“¢ Then let me do so?’ 

“¢No, I forbid you. I won’t have a fuss made about such 
nonsense.’ 

“Tt was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very ob- 
stinate man. I went about, however, with a heart which was 
full of forebodings. 

“On the third day after the coming of the letter my father 
went from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, 
who is in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. 
I was glad that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was 
farther from danger when he was away from home. In that, 
however, I was in error. Upon the second day of his absence 
I received a telegram from the Major, imploring me to come 
at once. My father had fallen over one of the deep chalk- 
pits which abound in the neighborhood, and was lying sense- 
less, with a shattered skull. I hurried to him, but he passed 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 113 


away without having ever recovered his consciousness. He 
had, as it appears, been returning from Fareham in the twi- 
light, and as the country was unknown to him, and the chalk- 
pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in bringing in a ver- 
dict of ‘Death from accidental causes.’ Carefully as I ex- 
amined every fact connected with his death, I was unable to 
find anything which could suggest the idea of murder. There 
were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no robbery, no record 
of strangers having been seen upon the roads. And yet I 
need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, and that 
I was wellnigh certain that some foul plot had been woven 
round him. 

“In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will 
ask me why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was. 
well convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent 
upon an incident in my uncle’s life, and that the danger would 
be as pressing in one house as in another. 

“Tt was in January, ’85, that my poor father met his end, 
and two years and eight months have elapsed since then. 
During that time I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had 
begun to hope that this curse had passed away from the family, 
and that it had ended with the last generation. I had begun 
to take comfort too soon, however; yesterday morning the 
blow fell in the very shape in which it had come upon my 
father.” 

The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled en- 
velope, and, turning to the table, he shook out upon it five 
little dried orange pips. 

‘This is the envelope,” he continued. ‘“ The post-mark is 
London—eastern division. Within are the very words which 
were upon my father’s last message: ‘K. K. K.’; and then 
‘Put the papers on the sundial.’” 

“What have you done?” asked Holmes. 

“ Nothing.” 

“ Nothing ?” 

pes tell the truth ””—he sank his face into his thin, white 


114 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


hands—“I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those 
poor rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem — 
to be in the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which 
no foresight and no precautions can guard against.” 

“Tut! tut!” cried Sherlock Holmes. ‘You must act, man, 
or you are lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is 
no time for despair.” 

“‘T have seen the police.” 

Ah? 

“But they listened to my story with a smile. I am con- 
vinced that the inspector has formed the opinion that the 
letters are all practical jokes, and that the deaths of my re- 
‘lations were really accidents, as the jury stated, and were not 
to be. connected with the warnings.” 

Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. “ Incredible 
imbecility !” he cried. 

“They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may 
remain in the house with me.” 

“Has he come with you to-night?” 

~“No, His orders were to stay in the house.” 

Again Holmes raved in the air. 

“Why did you come to me?” he said; “and, above all, 
why did you not come at once ?” 

“T did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major 
Prendergast about my troubles, and was advised by him to 
come to you.” 

“Tt is'really two days since you had the letter. We should 
have acted before this. You have no further evidence, I sup- 
pose, than that which you have placed before us—no sug- 
gestive detail which might help us?” 

“There is one thing,” said John Openshaw. He rummaged 
in his coat pocket, and drawing out a piece of discolored, 
blue-tinted paper, he laid it out upon the table. “TI have 
some remembrance,” said he, “that on the day when my uncle 
burned the papers I observed that the small, unburned mar- 
gins which lay amid the ashes were of this particular color. 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 115 


I found this single sheet upon the floor of his room, and I am 
inclined to think that it may be one of the papers which has, 
perhaps, fluttered out from among the others, and in that way 
have escaped destruction. Beyond the mention of pips, I do 
not see that it helps us much. I think myself that it is a 
page from some private diary. The writing is undoubtedly 
my uncle’s.” 

Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet 
of paper, which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed 
been torn from a book. It was headed, “ March, 1869,” and 
beneath were the following enigmatical notices : 

“ath. Hudson came. Same old platform. 

“oth. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and John 

Swain, of St. Augustine. 

“oth. McCauley cleared. 

“roth. John Swain cleared. 

“2th, Visited Paramore. All well.” 

_ “Thank you!” said Holmes, folding up the paper, and re- 
turning it to our visitor. “ And now you must on no account 
lose another instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss’ 
what you have told me. You must get home instantly and 
act.” 

“What shall I do?” 

“There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. 
You must put this piece of paper which you have shown us 
into the brass box which you have described. You must also 
put in a note to say that all the other papers were burned by 
your uncle, and that this is the only one which remains. You 
must assert that in such words as will carry conviction with 
them. Having done this, you must at once put the box out’ 
upon the sundial, as directed. Do you understand ?” 

“Entirely.” 

“Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at pres- 
ent. I think that we may gain that by means of the law; but 
we have our web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The 
first consideration is to remove the pressing danger which 


116 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


threatens you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to 
punish the guilty parties.” 

“JT thank you,” said the young man, rising, and pulling on 
his overcoat. “You have given me fresh life and hope. I 
shall certainly do as you advise.” 

“Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of your- 
self in the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a 
doubt that you are threatened by a very real and imminent 
danger. How do you go back ?” 

“ By train from Waterloo.” 

“Tt is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust 
that you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard your- 
self too closely.” 

**T am armed.” 

. “That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your 
case,” 

“T shall see you at Horsham, then ?” 

“No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall 
seek it.” 

“Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with 
news as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice 
in every particular.” He shook hands with us, and took his 
leave. Outside the wind still screamed, and the rain splashed 
and pattered against the windows. This strange, wild story 
seemed to have come to us from amid the mad elements— 
blown in upon us like a sheet of sea-weed in a gale—and now 
to have been reabsorbed by them once more. 

Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head 
sunk forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. 
Then he lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched 
the blue smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the 
ceiling. 

“T think, Watson,” he remarked at last, “that of all our 
cases we have had none more fantastic than this.” 

“Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four.” 

“Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Open- 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 117 


shaw seems to me to be walking amid even greater perils than 
did the Sholtos.” 

‘But have you,” I asked, “formed any definite conception 
as to what these perils are?” 

“There can be no question as to their nature,” he answered. 

“Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why 
does he pursue this unhappy family ?” 

Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows 
upon the arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. 
“The ideal reasoner,’ he remarked, “would, when he had 
once been shown a single fact in all its bearings, deduce 
from it not only all the chain of events which led up to it, but 
also all the results which would follow from it. As Cuvier 
could correctly describe a whole animal by the contemplation 
of a single bone, so the observer who has thoroughly under- 
- stood one link in a series of incidents, should be able to ac- 
curately state all the other ones, both before and after. We 
have not yet grasped the results which the reason alone can 
attain to. Problems may be solved in the study which have 
baffled all those who have sought a solution by the aid of 
their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest pitch, 
it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to utilize all 
the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this in itself 
implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all knowledge, 
which, ever, in these days of free education and encyclopeedias, 
is asomewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so impossible, 
however, that a man should possess all knowledge which is 
likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have endeay- 
ored in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one 
occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits 
in a very precise fashion.” 

“Yes,” I answered, laughing. “It was a singular docu- 
ment. Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at 
zero, I remember. Botany variable, geology profound as re- 
gards the mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of 
town, chemistry eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational 


118 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


literature and crime records unique, violin- player, boxer, 
swordsman, lawyer, and self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. 
Those, I think, were the main points of my analysis.” 

Holmes grinned at the last item. ‘Well,’ he said, “I say 
now, as I said then, that a man should keep his little brain- 
attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and 
the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, 
where he can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as 
the one which has been submitted to us to-night, we need cer- 
tainly to muster all our resources. Kindly hand me down the 
letter K of the American Encyclopedia which stands upon 
the shelf beside you. Thank you. Now let us consider the 
situation, and see what may be deduced from it. In the first 
place, we may start with a strong presumption that Colonel 
Openshaw had some very strong reason for leaving America. 
Men at his time of life do not change all their habits, and ex- 
change willingly the charming climate of Florida for the lonely 
life of an English provincial town. His extreme love of soli- 
tude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of some 
one or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis 
that it was fear of some one or something which drove him 
from America. As to what it was he feared, we can only de- 
duce that by considering the formidable letters which were 
received by himself and his successors, Did you remark the 
post-marks of those letters ?” 

“The first was from Pondicherry, the second toes Dundee, 
and the third from London.” 

“From East London. What do you deduce from that?” 

“They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of 
a ship.” | 

“Excellent. We have already a clew. There can be no 
doubt thatthe probability—the strong probability—is that the 
writer was on board of a ship. And now let us consider an- 
other point. In the case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed 
between the threat and its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only 
some three or four days. Does that suggest anything?” — 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS ; 119 


“ A greater distance to travel.” 

“‘ But the letter had also a greater distance to come.” 

“Then I do not see the point.” 

“There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which 
the man or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they al- 
ways sent their singular warning or token before them when 
starting upon their mission. You see how quickly the deed 
followed the sign when it came from Dundee. If they had 
come from Pondicherry in a steamer they would have arrived 
almost as soon as their letter. But as a matter of fact seven 
weeks elapsed. I think that those seven weeks represented 
the difference between the mail-boat which brought the letter, 
and the sailing-vessel which brought the writer.” 

“Tt is possible.” 

“More than that. It is probable. And now you see the 
deadly urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Open- 
shaw to caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of 
the time which it would take the senders to travel the distance. 
But this one comes from London, and therefore we cannot 
- count upon delay.” 

“Good God!” I cried; “what can it mean, this relentless 
persecution ?” 

“The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital 
importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I 
think that it is quite clear that there must be more than one 
of them. A single man could not have carried out two deaths 
in such a way as to deceive a coroner’s jury. There must 
have been several in it, and they must have been men of re- 
source and determination. ‘Their papers they mean to have, 
be the holder of them who it may. In this way you see K. 
K. K. ceases to be the initials of an individual, and becomes 
the badge of a society.” 

“But of what society ?” 

“Have you never—” said Sherlock Holmes, bending for- 
ward and sinking his voice— have you never heard of the 
Ku Klux Klan?” 


120 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“‘T never have.” 

Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. 
“Here it is,” said he, presently, “‘Ku Klux Klan. A name 
derived from the fanciful resemblance to the sound produced 
by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret society was formed by 
some ex-Confederate soldiers in the Southern States after the 
Civil War, and it rapidly formed local branches in different 
parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, Louisiana, the 
Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was used “for po- 
litical purposes, principally for the terrorizing of the negro 
voters, and the murdering and driving from the country of 
those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usu- 
ally preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some 
fantastic but generally recognized shape—a sprig of oak-leaves 
in some parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On re- 
ceiving this the victim might either openly abjure his former 
ways, or might fly from the country. If he braved the matter 
out, death would unfailingly come upon him, and usually in 
some strange and unforeseen manner. So perfect was the or- 
ganization of the society, and so systematic its methods, that 
there is hardly a case upon record where any man succeeded 
in braving it with impunity, or in which any of its outrages 
were traced home to the perpetrators. For some years 
the organization flourished, in spite of the efforts of the 
United States Government and of the better classes of the 
community in the South. Eventually, in the year 1869, 
the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there 
have been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that 
date.’ 

“ You will observe,’”’ said Holmes, laying down the volume, 
“that the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident 
with the disappearance of Openshaw from America with their 
papers. It may well have been cause and effect. It is no 
wonder that he and his family have some of the more impla- 
cable spirits upon their track. You can understand that this 
register and diary may implicate some of the first men in the 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 12! 


South, and that there may be many who will not sleep easy at 
night until it is recovered.” 

“Then the page we have seen—” 

“Ts such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 
‘sent the pips to A, B, and C,’—that is, sent the society’s 
warning to them. ‘Then there are successive entries that A 
and B cleared, or left the country, and finally that C was vis- 
ited, with, I fear, a sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doc- 
tor, that we may let some light into this dark place, and I 
believe that the only chance young Openshaw has in the 
mean time is to do what I have told him. There is nothing 
more to be said or to be done to-night, so hand me over my 
violin, and let us try to forget for half an hour the miserable 
weather and the still more miserable ways of our fellow- 

men.” 


It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining 
with a subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs 
over the great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at break- 
fast when I came down. 

“You will excuse me for not waiting for you,” said he; “I 
have, I foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this 
case of young Openshaw’s.” 

“What steps will you take?” I asked. 

“Tt will very much depend upon the results of my first in- 
quiries. I may have to go down to Horsham, after all.” 

“You will not go there first ?” 

“No, I shall commence with the city. Just ring the bell, 
and the maid will bring up your coffee.” 

As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table 
and glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which 
sent a chill to my heart. 

“ Holmes,” I cried, “you are too late.” 

“ Ah!” said he, laying down his cup, “I feared as much. 
How was it done?” He spoke calmly, but I could see that 
he was deeply moved. 


122 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading, 
‘Tragedy near Waterloo Bridge.’ Here is the account: ‘ Be- 
tween nine and ten last night Police-constable Cook, of the H 
Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help 
and a splash in the water. The night, however, was extreme- 
ly dark and stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several 
passers-by, it was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The 
alarm, however, was given, and, by the aid of the water-police, 
the body was eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a 
young gentleman whose name, as it appears from an envelope 
which was found in his pocket, was John Openshaw, and 
whose residence is near Horsham. It is conjectured that he 
may have been hurrying down to catch the last train from 
Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and the extreme dark- 
ness he missed his path and walked over the edge of one of - 
the small landing-places for river steamboats. ‘The body ex- 
hibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that 
the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, 
which should have the effect of calling the attention of the 
authorities to the condition of the river-side landing- 
stages.’”’ 

We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed 
and shaken than I had ever seen him. 

“That hurts my pride, Watson,” he said, at last. “It is a 
petty feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a 
personal matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I 
shall set my hand upon this gang. That he should come 
to me for help, and that I should send him away to his 
death—!” He sprang from his chair and paced about the 
room in uncontrollable agitation, with a flush upon his sallow 
cheeks, and a nervous clasping and unclasping of his long, 
thin hands. 

“They must be cunning devils,”. he exclaimed, at last. 
“ How could they have decoyed him down there? The Em- 
bankment is not on the direct line to the station. The bridge, 
no doubt, was too crowded, even on such a night, for their 


«.ALVI OOL AAV NOA, ‘AAIYD I ,‘SANTOH,,, 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 123 


purpose. Well, Watson, we shall see who will win in the 
long run. I am going out now!” 

“To the police ?” 

“No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the 
web they may take the flies, but not before.” 

All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was 
late in the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sher- 
lock Holmes had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o’clock 
before he entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to 
the sideboard, and, tearing a piece from the loaf, he devoured 
it voraciously, washing it down with a long draught of water. 

“You are hungry,” I remarked. 

“Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had noth- 
ing since breakfast.” 

“ Nothing ?” 

“Not a bite. I had no time to think of it.” 

“And how have you succeeded ?” 

“Well.” 

“You have a clew?” 

“T have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw 
shall not long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put 
their own devilish trade-mark upon them. It is well thought 
of !” 

“What do you mean ?” 

He took an orange from the cupboard, and, tearing it to 
pieces, he squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he 
took five, and thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of 
the flap he wrote “S. H. for J. O.” Then he sealed it and 
addressed it to “ Captain James Calhoun, Bark Lone Star, Sa- 
vannah, Georgia.” 

“That will await him when he enters port,” said he, chuck- 
ling. “It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as 
sure a precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him.” 

“ And who is this Captain Calhoun ?” 

“The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he 
first.” 


124 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“ How did you trace it, then ?” 

He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered 
with dates and names. 

“T have spent the whole day,” said he, “over Lloyd’s reg- 
isters and the files of the old papers, following the future ca- 
reer of every vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January 
and February in ’83. There were thirty-six ships of fair ton- 
nage which were reported there during those months. Of 
these, one, the Zone Star, instantly attracted my attention, 
since, although it was reported as having cleared from Lon- 
don, the name is that which is given to one of the States of 
the Union.” 

“Texas, I think.” 

“T was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the 
ship must have an American origin.” 

“What then ?” 

“T searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the 
bark Zone Star was there in January, ’85, my suspicion became 
a certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at 
present in the port of London.” 

“Ves?” : 

“The Lone Star had arrived here last week. I went down 
to the Albert Dock, and found that she had been taken down 
the river by the early tide this morning, homeward bound to 
Savannah. I wired to Gravesend, and learned that she had 
passed some time ago; and as the wind is easterly, I have no 
doubt that she is now past the Goodwins, and not very far 
from the Isle of Wight.” 

“What will you do, then ?” 

“Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, 
are, as I learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. 
The others are Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they 
were all three away from the ship last night. I had it from 
the stevedore who has been loading their cargo. By the time 
that their sailing-ship reaches Savannah the mail-boat will 
have carried this letter, and the cable will have informed the 


THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS : 125 


police of Savannah that these three gentlemen are badly want- 
ed here upon a charge of murder.” 

There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human 
plans, and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to re- 
ceive the orange pips which would show them that another, as 
cunning and as resolute as themselves, was upon their track. 
Very long and very severe were the equinoctial gales that 
year. We waited long for news of the Zone Star of Savan- 
nah, but none ever reached us. We did at last hear that 
somewhere far out in the Atlantic a shattered stern-post of a 
boat was seen swinging in the trough of a wave, with the let- 
ters “L. S.” carved upon it, and that is all which we shall. 
ever know of the fate of the Zone Star. 


Hodventure VT 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 


SOSA WHITNEY, brother of the late Elias Whit- 

> ney, D.D., Principal of the Theological College 
of St. George’s, was much addicted to opium. 
The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from 
some foolish freak when he was at college; for having read 
De Quincey’s description of his dreams and sensations, he 
had drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to 
produce the same effects. He found, as so many more have 
done, that the practice is easier to attain than to get, rid of, 
and for many years he continued to be a slave to the drug, 
an object of mingled horror and pity to his friends and rela- 
tives. I can see him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping 
lids, and pin-point pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck 
and ruin of a noble man. 

One night—it was in June, ’8g—there came a ring to my 
bell, about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and 
glances at the clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid 
her needle-work down in her lap and made a little face of dis- 
appointment. 

“A patient!” said she. “You'll have to go out.” 

I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. 

We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then 
quick steps upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and 
a lady, clad in some dark-colored stuff, with a black veil, en- 
tered the room. 

“You will excuse my calling so late,’’ she began, and then, 
suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 127 


arms about my wife’s neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. 
“Oh, I’m in such trouble!” she cried; “I do so want a little . 
help.” 

“Why,” said my wife, pulling up her veil, “it is Kate Whit- 
ney. How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who 
you were when you came in.” 

“TI didn’t know what to do, so I came straight to you.” 
_That was always the way. Folk who were in grief came to 
my wife like birds to a light-house. 

“Tt was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have 
some wine and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all 
about it. Or should you rather that I sent James off to bed ?” 

“Oh, no, no! I want the Doctor’s advice and help, too. 

It’s about Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am 
so frightened about him !” 
- It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of ‘her 
husband’s trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old 
friend and school companion. We soothed and comforted 
her by such words as we could find. Did she know where 
her husband was? Was it possible that we could bring him 
back to her? , 

It seemed that it was. She had the surest information that 
of late he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium 
den in the farthest east of the city. Hitherto his orgies had 
always been confined to one day, and he had come back, 
twitching and shattered, in the evening. But now the spell 
had been upon him eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, 
doubtless among the dregs of the docks, breathing in the 
poison or sleeping off the effects. There he was to be found, 
she was sure of it, at the “ Bar of Gold,” in Upper Swandam 
Lane. But what was she to do? How could she, a young 
and timid woman, make her way into such a place, and pluck 
her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded 
him? 

There was the case, and of course there was but one way 
out of it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, 


128 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


as a second thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa 
Whitney’s medical adviser, and as such I had influence over 
him. I could manage it better if I were alone. I promised 
her on my word that I would send him home in a cab within 
two hours if he were indeed at the address which she had 
given me. And so in ten minutes I had left my arm-chair 
and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding east- 
ward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at 
the time, though the future only could show how strange it 
was to be. 

But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my 
adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking be- 
hind the high wharves which line the north side of the river 
to the east of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a 
gin-shop, approached by a steep flight of steps leading down 
to a black gap like the mouth of a cave, I found the den of 
which I was in search. Ordering my cab to wait, I passed 
down the steps, worn hollow in the centre by the ceaseless 
tread of drunken feet, and by the light of a flickering oil-lamp 
above the door I found the latch, and made my way into a 
long, low room, thick and heavy with the brown opium smoke, 
and terraced with wooden berths, like the forecastle of an 
emigrant ship. 

Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of 
bodies lying in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent 
knees, heads thrown back and chins pointing upward, with 
here and there a dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the new- 
comer. Out of the black shadows there glimmered little red 
circles of light, now bright, now faint, as the burning poison 
waxed or waned in the bowls of the metal pipes. The most 
lay silent, but some muttered to themselves, and others talked 
together in a strange, low, monotonous voice, their conversa- 
tion coming in gushes, and then suddenly tailing off into si- 
lence, each mumbling out his own thoughts, and paying little 
heed to the words of his neighbor. At the farther end was a 
small brazier of burning charcoal, beside which on a three- 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 129 


legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old man, with his 
jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon his knees, 
staring into the fire. 

As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with 
a pipe for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an 
empty berth. 

“Thank you. I have not come to stay,” said I. “There 
is a friend of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak 
with him.” 

There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, 
and, peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, hag- 
gard, and unkempt, staring out at me. 

““My God! It’s Watson,” said he. He was in a pitiable 
state of reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. “I say, Wat- 
son, what o’clock is it?” 

“Nearly eleven.” 

“Of what day?” 

“Of Friday, June rgth.” 

“Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It zs Wed- 
nesday. What d’you want to frighten a chap for?” He sank 
his face onto his arms, and began to sob in a high treble key. 

“T tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been 
waiting this two days for you. You should be ashamed of 
yourself !’’ 

“Solam. But you’ve got mixed, Watson, for I have only 
been here a few hours, three pipes, four pipes—I forget how 
many. But I’ll go home with you. I wouldn’t frighten Kate 
—poor little Kate. Give me your hand! Have you a cab?” 

“Yes, I have one waiting.” 

“Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find 
what I owe, Watson. I am all off color. I can do nothing 
for myself.” 

I walked down the narrow passage between the double row 
of sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying 
fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I 
passed the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden 

9 


130 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


pluck at my skirt, and a low voice whispered, ‘‘ Walk past me, 
and then look back at me.” The words fell quite distinctly 
upon my ear. I glanced down. They could only have come 
from the old man at my side, and yet he sat now as absorbed 
as ever, very thin, very wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe 
dangling down from between his knees, as though it had 
dropped in sheer lassitude from his fingers. I took two steps 
forward and looked back. It took all my self-control to pre- 
vent me from breaking out into a cry of astonishment. He 
had turned his back so that none could see him but I. His 
form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull eyes had 
regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire, and grinning 
at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He 
made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, 
as he turned his face half round to the company once more, 
subsided into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. 

“Holmes!” I whispered, “ what on earth are you doing in 
this den?” 

“‘ As low as you can,” he answered; “I have excellent ears. 
If you would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish 
friend of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little 
talk with you.” 

‘“‘T have a cab outside.” 

“Then pray send him home in it.~ You may safely trust 
him, for he appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. 
I should recommend you also to send a note by the cabman 
to your wife to say that you have thrown in your lot with me. 
If you will wait outside, I shall be with you in five minutes.” 

It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes’s requests, 
for they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward 
with such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when 
Whitney was once confined in the cab my mission was practi- 
cally accomplished , and for the rest, I could not wish any- 
thing better than to be associated with my friend in one of 
those singular adventures which were the normal condition of 
his existence. In a few minutes I had written my note, paid 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 131 


Whitney’s bill, led him out to the cab, and seen him driven 
through the darkness. In a very short time a decrepit figure 
had emerged from the opium den, and I was walking down 
the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two streets he shuffled 
along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. Then, glancing 
quickly round, he straightened himself out and burst into a 
hearty fit of laughter. 

‘I suppose, Watson,” said he, “that you imagine that I 
have added opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the 
other little weaknesses on which you have favored me with 
your medical views.” 

“‘T was certainly surprised to find you there.” 

“‘But not more so than I to find you.” 

“T came to find a friend.” 

“ And I to find an enemy.” 

“ An enemy ?” 


bf 


“Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my nat- 
ural prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very re- 
markable inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clew in the in- 
coherent ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. 
Had I been recognized in that den my life would not have 
been worth an hour’s purchase; for I have used it before now 
for my own purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has 
sworn to have vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at 
the back of that building, near the corner of Paul’s Wharf, 
which could tell some strange tales of what has passed through 
it upon the moonless nights.” 

“What! You do not mean bodies ?” 

“Aye, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 
#1000 for every poor devil who has been done to death in 
that den. It is the vilest murder-trap on the whole river-side, 
and I fear that Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave 
it more. But our trap should be here.” He put his two fore- 
fingers between his teeth and whistled shrilly—a signal which 
was answered by a similar whistle from the distance, followed 
shortly by the rattle of wheels and the clink of horses’ hoofs. 


132 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Now, Watson,” said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up 
through the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow 
light from its side lanterns. ‘ You’ll come with me, won’t 
you ?” 

“Tf I can be of use.” | 

“Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler 
still more so. My room at ‘The Cedars’ is a double-bedded 
one.” 

“ «The Cedars ?’” 

“Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair’s house. I am staying there 
while I conduct the inquiry.” 

“Where is it, then ?” 

“Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before 
us.” 

“But I am all in the dark.” 

“Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently, . 
Jump up here. All right, John; we shall not need you. 
Here’s half a crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about 
eleven. Give her her head. So long, then !” 

He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away 
through the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, 
which widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad 
balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly 
beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks 
and mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular foot- 
fall of the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated 
party of revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across 
the sky, and a star or two twinkled dimly here and there 
through the rifts of the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, 
with his head sunk upon his breast, and the air of a man who 
is lost in thought, while I sat beside him, curious to learn 
what this new quest might be which seemed to tax his powers 
so sorely, and yet afraid to break in upon the current of his 
thoughts. We had driven several miles, and were beginning 
to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban villas, when he 
shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up his pipe 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 132 


with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he is act- 
ing for the best. 

“You have a grand gift of silence, Watson,” said he. “It 
makes you quite invaluable as a companion. ’Pon my word, 
it is a great thing for me to have some one to talk to, for my 
own thoughts are not over pleasant. I was wondering what I 
should say to this dear little woman to-night when she meets 
me at the door.” 

“Vou forget that I know nothing about it.” 

“T shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case be- 
fore we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, some- 
how, I can get nothing to goupon. There’s plenty of thread, 
no doubt, but I can’t get the end of it into my hand. Now, 
I’ll state the case clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and 

maybe you can see a spark where all is dark to me.” 
“Proceed, then.” 

“Some years ago—to be definite, in May, 1884—there came 
to Lee a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared 
to have plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the 
grounds very nicely, and lived generally in good style. By 
degrees he made friends in the neighborhood, and in 1887 he 
married the daughter of a local brewer, by whom he now has 
two children. He had no occupation, but was interested in 
several companies, and went into town as a rule in the morn- 
ing, returning by the 5.14 from Cannon Street every night. 
Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of age, is a man of 
temperate habits, a good husband, a very affectionate father, 
and a man who is popular with all who know him. I may 
add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far as we 
have been able to ascertain, amount to £88 tros., while he 
has £220 standing to his credit in the Capital and Counties 
Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money 
troubles have been weighing upon his mind. 

“Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather 
earlier than usual, remarking before he started that he had 
two important commissions to perform, and that he would 


134 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


bring his little boy home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest 
chance, his wife received a telegram upon this same Monday, 
very shortly after his departure, to the effect that a small par- 
cel of considerable value which she had been expecting was 
waiting for her at the offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Com- 
pany. Now, if you are well up in your London, you will 
know that the offices of the company is in Fresno Street, 
which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where you 
found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for 
the city, did some shopping, proceeded to the company’s of- 
fice, got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4.35 walking 
through Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. 
Have you followed me so far?” 

“Tt is very clear.” 

“If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, 
_and Mrs. St. Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope 
of seeing a cab, as she did not like the neighborhood in 
which she found herself. While she was walking in this way 
down Swandam Lane, she suddenly heard an ejaculation or 
cry, and was struck cold to see her husband looking down at 
her, and, as it seemed to her, beckoning to her from a second- 
floor window. The window was open, and she distinctly saw 
his face, which she describes as being terribly agitated. He 
waved his hands frantically to her, and then vanished from 
the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that he had 
been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. 
One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was 
that, although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started 
to town in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. 

“Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed 
down the steps—for the house was none other than the opium 
den in which you found me to-night—and, running through 
the front room, she attempted to ascend the stairs which led 
to the first floor. At the foot of the stairs, however, she met 
this Lascar scoundrel of whom I have spoken, who thrust her 
back, and, aided by a Dane, who acts as assistant there, 


**AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS SHE MET THIS LASCAR SCOUNDREL” 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 135 


pushed her out into the street. Filled with the most mad- 
dening doubts and fears, she rushed down the lane, and, by 
rare good-fortune, met, in Fresno Street, a number of consta- 
bles with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The 
inspector and two men accompanied her back, and, in spite of 
the continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their 
way to the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. 
There was no sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that 
floor there was no one to be found, save a crippled wretch of 
hideous aspect, who, it seems, made his home there. Both he 
and the Lascar stoutly swore that no one else had been in the 
front room during the afternoon. So determined was their 
denial that the inspector was staggered, and had almost come 
to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had been deluded, when, with a 
cry, she sprang at a small deal box which lay upon the table, 
and tore the lid from it. Out there fell a cascade of chil- 
dren’s bricks. It was the toy which he had promised to 
bring home. 

“This discovery, and the evident confusion which the crip- 
ple showed, made the inspector realize that the matter was 
serious. The rooms were carefully examined, and results all 
pointed to an abominable crime. The front room was plainly 
furnished as a sitting-room, and led into a small bedroom, 
which looked out upon the back of one of the wharves. Be- 
tween the wharf and the bedroom window is a narrow strip, 
which is dry at low tide, but is covered at high tide with at 
least four and a half feet of water. The bedroom window was 
a broad one, and opened from below. On examination traces 
of blood were to be seen upon the window-sill, and several 
scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of the bed- 
room. ‘Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were 
all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of 
his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch—all 
were there. There were no signs of violence upon any of 
these garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville 
St. Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone, 


136 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


for no other exit could be discovered, and the ominous blood- 
stains upon the sill gave little promise that he could save him- 
self by swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the 
moment of the tragedy. 

“And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately 
implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a 
man of the vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair’s sto- 
ry, he was known to have been at the foot of the stair within 
a very few seconds of her husband’s appearance at the win- 
dow, he could hardly have been more than an accessory to 
the crime. His defense was one of absolute ignorance, and 
he protested that he had no knowledge as to the doings of 
Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he could not account in any 
way for the presence of the missing gentleman’s clothes. 

**So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister 
cripple who lives upon the second floor of the opium den, 
and who was certainly the last human being whose eyes rested 
upon Neville St. Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his 
hideous face is one which is familiar to every man who goes 
much to the city. He is a professional beggar, though, in 
order to avoid the police regulations, he pretends to a small 
trade in wax vestas. Some little distance down Threadneedle 
Street, upon the left-hand side, there is, as you may have re- 
marked, a small angle in the wall. Here it is that this creat- 
ure takes his daily seat, cross-legged, with his tiny stock of 
matches on his lap, and, as he is a piteous spectacle, a small 
rain of charity descends into the greasy leather cap which lies 
upon the pavement beside him. I have watched the fellow 
more than once, before ever I thought of making his profes- 
sional acquaintance, and I have been surprised at the harvest 
which he has reaped in a short time. His appearance, you 
see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him without ob- 
serving him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face disfigured 
by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has turned up 
the outer edge of his upper lip, a bull-dog chin, and a pair of 
very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular contrast 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 137 


to the color of his hair, all mark him out from amid the com- 
mon crowd of mendicants, and so, too, does his wit, for he is 
ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be 
thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we 
now learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to 
have been the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are 
in quest.” 

“But a cripple!” said I. “What could he have done 
single-handed against a man in the prime of life ?” 

“ He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; 
but in other respects he appears to be a powerful and well- 
nurtured man. Surely your medical experience would tell 
you, Watson, that weakness in one limb is often compensated 
for by exceptional strength in the others.” 

* Pray continue your narrative.” 

“ Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon 
the window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the po- 
lice, as her presence could be of no help to them in their in- 
‘vestigations. Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, 
made a very careful examination of the premises, but without 
finding anything which threw any light upon the matter. One 
mistake had been made in not arresting Boone instantly, as 
he was allowed some few minutes during which he might have 
communicated with his friend the Lascar, but this fault was 
soon remedied, and he was seized and searched, without any- 
thing being found which could incriminate him. There were, 
it is true, some blood-stains upon his right shirt-sleeve, but he 
pointed to his ring-finger, which had been cut near the nail, 
and explained that the bleeding came from there, adding that 
he had been to the window not long before, and that the stains 
which had been observed there came doubtless from the same 
source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. Neville 
St. Clair, and swore that the presence of the clothes in his 
room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to 
Mrs. St. Clair’s assertion that she had actually seen her hus- 
band at the window, he declared that she must have been either 


138 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES — 


mad or dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the 
police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises 
in the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clew. 

“And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank 
what they had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair’s coat, 
and not Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide re- 
ceded. And what do you think they found in the pockets ?” 

“T cannot imagine.” 

“No, I don’t think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed 
with pennies and half-pennies—421 pennies and 270 half- 
pennies. It was no wonder that it had not been swept away 
by the tide. But a human body is a different matter. There 
is a fierce eddy between the wharf and the house. It seemed 
likely enough that the weighted coat had remained when the 
stripped body had been sucked away into the river.” 

“ But I understand that all the other clothes were found in 
the room. . Would the body be dressed in a coat alone ?” 

“No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. 
Suppose that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair 
through the window, there is no human eye which could have 
seen the deed. What would he do then? It would of course 
instantly strike him that he must get rid of the tell-tale gar- 
ments. He would seize the coat, then, and be in the act of 
throwing it out, when it would occur to him that it would swim 
and not sink. He has little time, for he has heard the scuffle 
down-stairs when the wife tried to force her way up, and per- 
haps he has already heard from his Lascar confederate that 
the police are hurrying up the street. There is not an instant 
to be lost. He rushes to some secret horde, where he has 
accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he stuffs all the 
coins upon which he can lay his hands into the pockets to 
make sure of the coat’s sinking. He throws it out, and would 
have done the same with the other garments had not he heard 
the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close tne 
window when the police appeared.” 

“ It certainly sounds feasible.” 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 139 


“ Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want 
of a better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and 
taken to the station, but it could not be shown that there had 
ever before been anything against him. He had for years 
been known as a professional beggar, but his life appeared to 
have been a very quiet and innocent one. ‘There the matter 
stands at present, and the questions which have to be solved— 
what Neville St. Clair was doing in the opium den, what hap- 
pened to him when there, where is he now, and what Hugh 
Boone had to do with his disappearance—are all as far from 
a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot recall any case 
within my experience which looked at the first glance so 
simple, and yet which presented such difficulties.” 

While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular 
series of events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of 
the great town until the last straggling houses had been left 
behind, and we rattled along with a country hedge upon 
either side of us. Just as he finished, however, we drove 
through two scattered villages, where a few lights still glim- 
mered in the windows. 

“We are on the outskirts of Lee,” said my companion. 
‘‘We have touched on three English counties in our short 
drive, starting in Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, 
and ending in Kent. See that light among the trees? That 
is ‘The Cedars,’ and beside that lamp sits a woman whose 
anxious ears have already, I have little doubt, caught the clink 
of our horse’s feet.” 

“ But why are you not conducting the case from Baker 
Street ?” I asked. 

“Because there are many inquiries which must be made 
out here. Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at 
my disposal, and you may rest assured that she will have 
nothing but a welcome for my friend and colleague. I hate 
to meet her, Watson, when I have no news of her husband. 
Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa !” 

We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood with- 


140 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


in its own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse’s 
head, and, springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, 
winding gravel-drive which led to the house. As we ap- 
proached, the door flew open, and a little blonde woman stood 
in the opening, clad in some sort of light mousseline de soie, 
with a touch of fluffy pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. 
She stood with her figure outlined against the flood of 
light, one hand upon the door, one half- raised in her 
eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head and face pro- 
truded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing ques- 
tion. | 

“Well?” she cried, “ well?” And then, seeing that there 
were two of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a 
groan as she saw that my companion shook his head and 
shrugged his shoulders. 

“No good news ?” 

** None.” 

“No bad?” 

NO; 

“Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, 
for you have had a long day.” 

“This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most 
vital use to me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance 
has made it possible for me to bring him out and associate 
him with this investigation.” 

“T am delighted to see you,” said she, pressing my hand 
warmly. ‘You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be 
wanting in our arrangements, when you consider the blow 
which has come so suddenly upon us.” 

“My dear madam,” said, I “I am an old campaigner, and 
if I were not, I can very well see that no apology is needed. 
If I can be of any assistance, either to you or to my friend 
here, I shall be indeed happy.” 

“Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” said the lady, as we entered 
a well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper 
had been laid out, “I should very much like to ask you one 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 14i 


or two plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a 
plain answer.” 

“Certainly, madam.” 

“Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, 
nor given to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real 
opinion.” 

“ Upon what point ?” 

“Tn your heart of hearts do you think that Neville is alive ?” 

Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the ques- 
tion. “ Frankly, now!” she repeated, standing upon the rug 
and looking keenly down at him as he leaned back in a 
basket-chair. 

‘“‘ Frankly, then, madam, I do not.” 

“You think that he is dead ?” 

“T do.” 

“ Murdered ?” 

“JT don’t say that. Perhaps.” 

‘¢ And on what day did he meet his death ?” 

“On Monday.” 

“Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough 
to explain how it is that I have received a letter from him 
to-day.” 

Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been 
galvanized. 

“What!” he roared. 

“Yes, to-day.” She stood smiling, holding up a little slip 
of paper in the air. 

“ May I see it ?” 

“ Certainly.” 

He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it 
out upon the table, he drew over the lamp, and examined it 
intently. I had left my chair, and was gazing at it over his 
shoulder. The envelope was a very coarse one, and was 
stamped with the Gravesend post-mark, and with the date of 
that very day, or rather of the day before, for it was consider- 
ably after midnight. 


142 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Coarse writing,” murmured Holmes. “Surely this is not 
your husband’s writing, madam.” 

“ No, but the enclosure is.” 

‘“‘T perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had 
to go and inquire as to the address.” 

“ How can you tell that ?” 

“The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has 
dried itself. The rest is of the grayish color, which shows that 
blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight 
off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. 
This man has written the name, and there has then been a 
pause before he wrote the address, which can only mean that 
he was not familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there 
is nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. 
Ha! there has been an enclosure here !” 

“Ves, there was aring. His signet-ring.” 

“And you are sure that this is your husband’s hand ?” 

“One of his hands.” 

“One ?” 

‘“‘ His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his 
usual writing, and yet I know it well.” 

“* Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There 
is a huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. 
Wait in patience.—Neville.’ Written in pencil upon the fly- 
leaf of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted 
to-day in Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! 
And the flap has been gummed, if I am not very much 
in error, by a person who had been chewing tobacco. 
And you have no doubt that it is your husband’s hand, 
madam ?” 

“None. Neville wrote those words.” 

“And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. 
St: Clair, the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to 
say that the danger is over.” 

* But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes.” 

“Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong 


| 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 143 


scent. The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been 
taken from him.” 

“No, no; it is, it is, it is his very own writing !” 

“ Very well. It may, however, have been written on Mon- 
day, and only posted to-day.” 

“That is possible.” 

“Tf so, much may have happened between.” 

“Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know 

that all is well with him. There is so keen a sympathy be- 
tween us that I should know if evil came upon him. On the 
very day that I saw him last he cut himself in the bedroom, 
and yet I in the dining-room rushed up-stairs instantly with 
the utmost certainty that something had happened. Do you 
think that I would respond to such a trifle, and yet be igno- 
rant of his death ?” 
_ “T have seen too much not to know that the impression of 
a woman may be more valuable than the conclusion of an an- 
alytical reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very 
strong piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if 
your husband is alive, and able to write letters, why should he 
remain away from you?” 

“T cannot imagine. It is unthinkable.” 

“And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving 
you ?” 

“ No.”’ 

“And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?” 

“Very much so.” 

“Was the window open ?” 

Seg. 

“Then he might have called to you?” 

“He might.” 

“ He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry ?” 

a Ses.” 

* A call for help, you thought ?” 

“Yes. He waved his hands.” 

“ But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment 


144 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


at the unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up 
his hands?” 

“Tt is possible.” 

“And you thought he was pulled back ?” 

“He disappeared so suddenly.” 

“He might have leaped back. You did not see any one 
else in the room ?” 

“No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, 
and the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs.” 

“Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his 
ordinary clothes on?” 3 

“But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare 
throat.” 

“Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?” 

“ Never.” 

“Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium ?” 

“ Never.”3: 

“Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points 
about which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now 
have a little supper and then retire, for we may have a very 
busy day to-morrow.” 

A large and comfortable double- bedded room had been 
placed at our disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, 
for I was weary after my night of adventure. Sherlock 
Holmes was a man, however, who, when he had an unsolved 
problem upon his mind, would go for days, and even for a 
week, without rest, turning it over, rearranging his facts, look- 
ing at it from every point of view, until he had either fath- 
omed it, or convinced himself that his data were insufficient. 
It was soon evident to me that he was now preparing for an 
all-night sitting. He took off his coat and waistcoat, put on 
a large blue dressing- gown, and then wandered about the 
room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from the 
sofa and arm-chairs. With these he constructed a sort of 
Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, 
with an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 145 


in front of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sit- 
ting there, an old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed 
vacantly upon the corner of the ceiling, the blue.smoke curl- 
ing up from him, silent, motionless, with the light shining upon 
his strong-set aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off 
to sleep, and so he sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me 
to wake up, and I found the summer sun shining into the 
apartment. The pipe was still between his lips, the smoke 
still curled upward, and the room was full of a dense tobacco 
haze, but nothing remained of the heap of shag which I had 
seen upon the previous night. 

* Awake, Watson?” he asked. 

Vea: 

“Game for a morning drive?” 

“ Certainly.” 

“Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the 
stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out.” He 
chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he 
seemed a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous 
— night. 

As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder 
that no one was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past 
four. I had hardly finished when Holmes returned with the 
news that the boy was putting in the horse. 

‘“‘T want to test a little theory of mine,” said he, pulling on 
his boots. “I think, Watson, that you are now standing in 
the presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I 
deserve to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think 
I have the key of the affair now.” 

“And where is it?” I asked, smiling. 

“In the bath-room,” he answered. “Oh yes, I am not jok- 
ing,” he continued, seeing my look of incredulity. “I have 
just been there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it 
in this Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see 
whether it will not fit the lock.” 


We made our way down-stairs as quietly as possible, and 
190 


146 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


_ out into the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our 
horse and trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the 
head. We both sprang in, and away we dashed down the 
London Road. A few country carts were stirring, bearing in 
vegetables to the metropolis, but the lines of villas on either 
side were as silent and lifeless as some city in a dream. 

“Tt has been in some points a singular case,” said Holmes, 
flicking the horse on into a gallop. ‘I confess that I have 
been as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late 
than never to learn it at all.” 

In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleep- 
ily from their windows as we drove through the streets of the 
Surrey side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we 
crossed over the river, and dashing up Wellington Street 
wheeled sharply to the right, and found ourselves in Bow 
Street. Sherlock Holmes was well known to the Force, and 
the two constables at the door saluted him. One of them 
held the horse’s head while the other led us in. 

“Who is on duty?” asked Holmes. 

“Inspector Bradstreet, sir.” 

“ Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?” A tall, stout official had 
come down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and 
frogged jacket. “I wish to have a quiet word with you, Brad- 
street.” 

“Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here.” 

It was a small, office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the 
table, and a telephone projecting from the wall. The inspect- 
or sat down at his desk. 

“What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes ?” 

“T called about that beggarman, Boone—the one who was 
charged with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. 
Neville St. Clair, of Lee.” 

“Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further in- 
quiries.” . 

“So I heard. You have him here?” 

“Tn the cells.” 


_ THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 147 


“Ts he quiet?” 

“Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel.” 

Dirty ?” 

“Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and 
his face is as black as a tinker’s. Well, when once his case 
has been settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I 
think, if you saw him, you would agree with me that he need- 
ed it.” 

“‘T should like to see him very much.” 

“Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You 
can leave your bag.” 

“ No, I think that I’ll take it.” 

“Very good. Come this way, if you please.” He led us 
down a passage, opened a barred door, passed down a wind- 
ing stair, and brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a 
line of doors on each side. 

‘The third on the right is his,” said the inspector. ‘ Here 
it is!” He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the 
door and glanced through. 

“ He is asleep,” said he. ‘‘ You can see him very well.” 

We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay 
with his face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slow- 
ly and heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as 
became his calling, with a.colored shirt protruding through the 
rent in his tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, 
extremely dirty, but the grime which covered his face could 
not conceal its repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an 
old scar ran right across it from eye to chin, and by its con- 
traction had turned up one side of the upper lip, so that 
three teeth were exposed in a perpetual snarl. A shock of 
very bright red hair grew low over his eyes and forehead. 

‘“‘He’s a beauty, isn’t he?” said the inspector. 

“ He certainly needs a wash,” remarked Holmes. “I had 
an idea that he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the 
tools with me.” He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, 
and took out, to my astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. 


148 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“He! he! You are a funny one,” chuckled the in- 
spector. 

“Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that 
door very quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more re- 
spectable figure.” 

“Well, I don’t know why not,” said the inspector. “He 
doesn’t look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?” He 
slipped his key into the lock, and we very all quietly entered 
the cell. The sleeper half turned, and then settled down once 
more into a deep slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, 
moistened his sponge, and then rubbed it twice vigorously 
across and down the prisoner’s face. 

“Let me introduce you,” he shouted, “to Mr. Neville St. 
Clair, of Lee, in the county of Kent.” 

Never in my life have I seen sucha sight. The man’s face 
peeled off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone 
was the coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar 
which had seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had 
given the repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away 
the tangled red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a 
pale, sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth- 
skinned, rubbing his eyes, and staring about him with sleepy 
bewilderment. Then suddenly realizing the exposure, he broke 
into a scream, and threw himself down with his face to the 
pillow. 

“Great heavens!’ cried the inspector, “it is, indeed, the 
missing man. I know him from the photograph.” 

The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who 
abandons himself to his destiny. ‘“ Be it so,” said he. “ And 
pray, what am I charged with ?” 

“With making away with Mr. Neville St. Oh, come, 
you can’t be charged with that, unless they make a case of 
attempted suicide of it,’ said the inspector, with a grin. 
“ Well, I have been twenty-seven years in the force, but this 
really takes the cake.” 

“Tf J am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 149 


crime has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally 
detained.” 

“No crime, but a very great error has been committed,” 
said Holmes. “ You would have done.better to have trusted 
your wife.” 

“Tt was not the wife, it was the children,” groaned the pris- 
oner. ‘God help me, I would not have them ashamed of 
their father. My God! What an exposure! What can I 
do?” 

Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and 
patted him kindly on the shoulder. 

** Tf you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up,” 
said he, “of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the 
other hand, if you convince the police authorities that there is 
no possible case against you, I do not know that there is any 
reason that the details should find their way into the papers. 
Inspector Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon any- 
thing which you might tell us, and submit it to the proper au- 
thorities. ‘The case would then never go into court at all.” 

“God bless you!” cried the prisoner, passionately. “I 
would have endured imprisonment, aye, even execution, rather 
than have left my miserable secret as a family blot to my chil- 
dren.” 

“You are the first who have ever heard my story. My 
father was a school-master in Chesterfield, where I received 
an excellent education. I travelled in my youth, took to the 
stage, and finally became a reporter on an evening paper in 
London. One day my editor wished to have a series of arti- 
cles upon begging in the metropolis, and I volunteered to 
supply them. There was the point from which all my advent- 
ures started. It was only by trying begging as an amateur 
that I could get the facts upon which to base my articles. 
When an actor I had, of course, learned all the secrets of 
making up, and had been famous in the greenroom for my 
skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted 
my face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a 


150 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


good scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of 
a small slip of flesh-colored plaster. Then with a red head of 
hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the busi- 
est part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller, but really as 
a beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I re- 
turned home in the evening I found, to my surprise, that I 
- had received no less than 26s. 4d. 

“‘T wrote my articles, and thought little more of the matter 
until, some time later, I backed a bill for a friend, and had a 
writ served upon me for £25. I was at my wits’ end where 
to get the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a 
fortnight’s grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from 
my employers, and spent the time in begging in the city under 
my disguise. In ten days I had the money, and had paid the 
debt. | | 

“Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to 
arduous work at £2 a week, when I knew that I could earn 
as much in a day by smearing my face with.a little paint, lay- 
ing my cap on the ground, and sitting still. It was a long 
fight between my pride and the money, but the dollars won at 
last, and I threw up reporting, and sat day after day in the 
corner which I had first chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly 
face, and filling my pockets with coppers. Only one man 
knew my secret. He was the keeper of a low den in which I 
used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could every morning 
emerge as a squalid beggar, and in the evenings transform 
myself into a well-dressed man about town. ‘This fellow, a 
Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew 
that my secret was safe in his possession. 

“Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable 
sums of money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets 
of London could earn £700 a year—which is less than my 
average takings—but I had exceptional advantages in my 
power of making up, and also in a facility of repartee, which 
improved by practice, and made me quite a recognized char- 
acter in the city. All day a stream of pennies, varied by sil- 


THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 15! 


ver, poured in upon me, and it was a very bad day in which I 
failed to take £2. 

“ As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in 
the country, and eventually married, without any one having a 
suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that 
I had business in the city. She little knew what. 

~ “Last Monday I had finished for the day, and was dressing 
in my room above the opium den, when I looked out of my 
window, and saw, to my horror and astonishment, that my 
wife was standing in the street, with her eyes fixed full upon 
me. I gave acry of surprise, threw up my arms to cover my 
face, and, rushing to my confidant, the Lascar, entreated him 
to prevent any one from coming up to me. I heard her voice 
down-stairs, but I knew that she could not ascend. Swiftly I 
threw off my clothes, pulled on those of a beggar, and put on 
‘my pigments and wig. Even a wife’s eyes could not pierce so 
complete a disguise. But then it occurred to me that there 
might be a search in the room, and that the clothes might be- 
tray me. I threw open the window, reopening by my violence 
a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in the bedroom 
that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was weighted 
by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from the 
leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of 
the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other 
clothes would have followed, but at that moment there was a 
_ rush of constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I 
found, rather, I confess, to my relief, that instead of being 
identified as Mr. Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his mur- 
derer. 

“I do not know that there is anything else for me to ex- 
plain. I was determined to preserve my disguise as long as 
possible, and hence my preference for a dirty face. Know- 
ing that my wife would be terribly anxious, I slipped off my 
ring, and confided it to the Lascar at a moment when no 
constable was watching me, together with a hurried scrawl, 
telling her that she had no cause to fear.” 


152 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“That note only reached her yesterday,” said Holmes. 

“Good God! What a week she must have spent !” 

“The police have watched this Lascar,’” said Inspector 
Bradstreet, ‘“‘and I can quite understand that he might find it 
difficult to post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it 
to some sailor customer of his, who forgot all about it for some 
days.” 

“That was it,” said Holmes, nodding approvingly; “I have 
no doubt of it. But have you never been prosecuted for 
begging ?” 

“Many times; but what was a fine to me?” 

“Tt must stop here, however,” said Bradstreet. “If the 
police are to hush this thing up, there must be no more of 
Hugh Boone.” 

“T have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man 
can take.” 

“In that case I think that it is probable that no further 
steps may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must 
come out. I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much in- 
debted to you for having cleared the matter up. I wish I 
knew how you reach your results.” 

“T reached this one,” said my friend, “ by sitting upon five 
pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, 
that if we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for 
breakfast.” 


Adventure VIF 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 


HAD called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes 
> upon the second morning after Christmas, with 
\ the intention of wishing him the compliments of 
¥Y the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a 
dabpks dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the 
right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly 
studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, 
and on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disrepu- 
table hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in 
several places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of 
the chair suggested that the hat had been suspended in this 
manner for the purpose of examination. 

“You are engaged,” said 1; “perhaps I interrupt you.” 

“Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can 
discuss my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one” (he 
jerked his thumb in the direction of the old hat), “but there 
are points in connection with it which are not entirely devoid 
of interest and even of instruction.” 

I seated myself in his arm-chair and warmed my hands 
before his crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the 
windows were thick with the ice crystals. ‘I suppose,” I 
remarked, “that, homely as it looks, this thing has some 
deadly story linked on to it—that it is the clew which will 
guide you in the solution of some mystery and the punish- 
ment of some crime.” 

“No, no. No crime,” said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. 
“Only one of those whimsical little incidents which will 


- 


154 - ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES : 


happen when you have four million human beings all jostling 
each other within the space of a few square miles. Amid the 
action and reaction of so dense a swarm of humanity, every 
possible combination of events may be expected to take place, 
and many a little problem will be presented which may be 
striking and bizarre without being criminal. We have al- 
ready had experience of such.” 

“So much so,” I remarked, “that of the last six cases 
which I have added to my notes, three have been entirely 
free of any legal crime.” | 

“Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene 
Adler papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, 
and to the adventure of the man with the twisted lip. 
Well, I have no doubt that this small matter will fall into the 
same innocent category. You know Peterson, the commis- 
sionaire ?” 

ees. | 

“Tt is to him that this trophy belongs.” 

“Tt is his hat.” 

“No, no; he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that 
you will look upon it, not as a battered billycock, but as an 
intellectual problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It 
arrived upon Christmas morning, in company with a good fat 
goose, which is, I have no doubt, roasting at this moment in 
front of Peterson’s fire. The facts are these: about four 
o’clock on Christmas morning, Peterson, who, as you know, 
is a very honest fellow, was returning from some small jolli- 
fication, and was making his way homeward down Totten- 
ham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in the gaslight, a 
tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and carrying a white 
goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the corner of 
Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger and a 
little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the man’s 
hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself, and, swing- 
ing it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. 
Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 155 


assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, 
and seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing tow- 
ards him, dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished 
amid the labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of 
Tottenham Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the 
appearance of Peterson, so that he was left in possession of 
the field of battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the 
shape of this battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christ- 
mas goose.” : 

“Which surely he restored to their owner?” 

“My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 
‘For Mrs. Henry Baker’ was printed upon a small card which 
was tied to the bird’s left leg, and it is also true that the in- 
itials ‘H. B.’ are legible upon the lining of this hat; but as 
there are some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of 
_ Henry Bakers in this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost 
property to any one of them.” 

“What, then, did Peterson do?” 

“He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christ- 
mas morning, knowing that even the smallest problems are of 
interest to me. The goose we retained until this morning, 
when there were signs that, in spite of the slight frost, it 
would be well that it should be eaten without unnecessary 
delay. Its finder has carried it off, therefore, to fulfil the 
ultimate destiny of a goose, while I continue to retain 
the hat of the unknown gentleman who lost his Christmas 
dinner.” 

“Did he not advertise ?” 

6é No.” 

“Then, what clue could you have as to his identity ?” 

_ “Qnly as much as we can deduce.” 

“ From his hat?” 

“ Precisely.” 

“But you are joking. What can you gather from this old 
battered felt ?” 

“Here is my lens. You knowmy methods. What can you 


156 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


gather yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn 
this article ?” 

I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over 
rather ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual 
round shape, hard, and much the worse for wear. The lining 
had been of red silk, but was a good deal discolored. There 
was no maker’s name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the 
initals “‘H. B.” were scrawled upon one side. It was pierced 
in the brim for a hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. 
For the rest, it was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted 
in several places, although there seemed to have been some 
attempt to hide the discolored patches by smearing them with 
ink. : 

“T can see nothing,” said I, handing it back to my friend. 

“On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You 
fail, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid 
in drawing your inferences.” : 

“Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this 
hat ?” 

He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspec- 
tive fashion which was characteristic of him. “It is perhaps 
less suggestive than it might have been,” he remarked, “and 
yet there are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a 
few others which represent at least a strong balance of proba- 
bility. That the man was highly intellectual is of course 
obvious upon the face of it, and also that he was fairly well- 
to-do within the last three years, although he has now fallen 
upon evil days. He had foresight, but has less now than for- 
merly, pointing to a moral retrogression, which, when taken 
with the decline of his fortunes, seems to indicate some evil 
influence, probably drink, at work upon him. This may ac- 
count also for the obvious fact that his wife has ceased to love 
him.” 

“My dear Holmes!” 

“He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect,” 
he continued, disregarding my remonstrance. “He is a man 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 157 


who leads a sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training 
entirely, is middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had 
cut within the last few days, and which he anoints with lime- 
cream. These are the more patent facts which are to be de- 
duced from his hat. Also, by-the-way, that it is extremely 
improbable that he has gas laid on in his house.” 

“Vou are certainly joking, Holmes.” 

“Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I 
give you these results, you are unable to see how they are 
attained ?” 

“T have no doubt that I am very stupid; but I must con- 
fess that I am unable to follow you. For example, how did 
you deduce that this man was intellectual ?” 

For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It 
came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of 
his nose. “It is a question of cubic capacity,” said he; “a 
man with so large a brain must have something in it.” 

“The decline of his fortunes, then ?” 

“This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled, at 
the edge came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. 
Look at the band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If 
this man could afford to buy so expensive a hat three years 
ago, and has had no hat since, then he has assuredly gone 
down in the world.” 

“Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the 
foresight and the moral retrogression ?” 

Sherlock Holmes laughed. “Here is the foresight,” said 
he, putting his finger upon the little disk and loop of the hat- 
securer. “They are never sold upon hats. If this man or- 
dered one, it is a sign of a certain amount of foresight, since 
he went out of his way to take this precaution against the 
wind. But since we see that he has broken the elastic, and 
has not troubled to replace it, it is obvious that he has less 
foresight now than formerly, which is a distinct proof of a 
weakening nature. On the other hand, he has endeavored to 
conceal some of these stains upon the felt by daubing them 


158 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


with ink, which is a sign that he has not entirely lost his self- 
respect.” 

“Your reasoning is certainly plausible.” 

“The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is 
grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses lime- 
cream,.are all to be gathered from a close examination of the 
lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number 
of hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. Theye 
all appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odor of lime- 
cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, gray 
dust of the street, but the fluffy brown dust of the house, 
showing that it has been hung up in-doors most of the time; 
_ while the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof posi- 
tive that the wearer perspired very freely, and could, there- 
fore, hardly be in the best of training.” 

“But his wife— you said that she had ceased to love 
him.” ee 

“This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see 
you, my dear Watson, with a week’s accumulation of dust 
upon your hat, and when your wife allows you to go out in 
such a state, I shall fear that you also have been unfortunate 
enough to lose your wife’s affection.” 

“But he might be a bachelor.” 

' “Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering 
to his wife. Remember the card upon the bird’s leg.” 

“You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do 
you deduce that the gas is not laid on in his house?” 

“One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; 
but when I see no less than five, I think that there can be 
little doubt that the individual must be brought into frequent 
contact with burning tallow—walks up-stairs at night probably 
with his hat in one hand and a guttering candle in the other. 
Anyhow, he never got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you 
satisfied ?” | | 

“Well, it is very ingenious,” said I, laughing; “ but since, 
as you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 159 


no harm done, save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be 
rather a waste of energy.” 

Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the 
door flew open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into 
the apartment with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who 
is dazed with astonishment. 

“The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!” he gasped. 

“Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and 
flapped off through the kitchen window?” Holmes twisted 
himself round upon the sofa to get a fairer view of the man’s 
excited face. 

“See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!” He 
held out his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm 
a brilliantly scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean 
in size, but of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like 
an electric point in the dark hollow of his hand. 

- Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. ‘ By Jove, Peter- 
son!” said he, “this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you 
know what you have got?” 

“A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as 
though it were putty.” 

“It’s more than a precious stone. It is ##e precious stone.” 

“ Not the Countess of Morcar’s blue carbuncle!”. I ejacu- 
lated. 

“Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing 
that I have read the advertisement about it in Zhe Zimes every 
day lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be 
conjectured, but the reward offered of £1000 is certainly not 
within a twentieth part of the market price.” 

“A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!” The com- 
missionaire plumped down into a chair, and stared from one 
to the other of us. 

“That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there 
are sentimental considerations in the background which would 
induce the countess to part with half her fortune if she could 
but recover the gem.” 


160 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“It was lost, if I remember aright, at the ‘ Hotel Cosmopoli- 
tan,’”’ I remarked. 

“Precisely so, on December 22d, just five days ago. John 
Horner, a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from 
the lady’s jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong 
that the case has been referred to the Assizes. I have some 
account of the matter here, I believe.”” He rummaged amid 
his newspapers, glancing over the dates, until at last he 
smoothed one out, doubled it over, and read the following 
paragraph : 

“* Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, 
plumber, was brought up upon the charge of having upon the 
22d inst. abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of 
Morcar the valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James 
Ryder, upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the 
effect that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of 
the Countess of Morcar upon the day of the robbery, in order 
that he might solder the second bar of the grate, which was 
loose. He had remained with Horner some little time, but 
had finally been called away. On returning, he found that 
Horner had disappeared, that the bureau had been forced 
open, and that the small morocco casket in which, as it after- 
wards transpired, the countess was accustomed to keep her 
jewel, was lying empty upon the dressing-table. Ryder in- 
stantly gave the alarm, and Horner was arrested the same 
evening; but the stone could not be found either upon his 
person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to the 
countess, deposed to having heard Ryder’s cry of dismay on 
discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, 
where she found matters as described by the last witness. 
Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the ar- 
rest of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his 
innocence in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous 
conviction for robbery having been given against the prisoner, 
the magistrate refused to deal summarily with the offence, but 
referred it to the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 161 


intense emotion during the proceedings, fainted away at the 
conclusion, and was carried out of court.’ 

“Hum! So much for the police-court,” said Holmes, 
thoughtfully, tossing aside the paper. ‘The question for us 
now to solve is the sequence of events leading from a rifled 
jewel-case at one end to the crop of a goose in Tottenham 
Court Road at the other. You see, Watson, our little deduc- 
tions have suddenly assumed a much more important and less 
innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the stone came from the 
goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry Baker, the gentle- 
man with the bad hat and all the other characteristics with 
which I have bored you. So now we must set ourselves very 
seriously to finding this gentleman, and ascertaining what part 
he has played in this little mystery. To do this, we must try 
the simplest means first, and these lie undoubtedly in an ad- 
-vertisement in all the evening papers. If this fail, I shall have 
recourse to other methods.” 

“What will you say ?” 

“‘Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 
‘Found at the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt 
hat. Mr. Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6.30 
this evening at 2218, Baker Street.’ That is clear and concise.” 

“Very. But will he see it ?” 

“Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a 
poor man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared 
by his mischance in breaking the window and by the ap- 
proach of Peterson, that he thought of nothing but flight; but 
since then he must have bitterly regretted the impulse which 
caused him to drop his bird. Then, again, the introduction of 
his name will cause him to see it, for every one who knows 
him will direct his attention to it. Here you are, Peterson, 
run down to the advertising agency, and have this put in the 
evening papers.” 

“In which, sir ?” 

“Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mail, St. Fames’s, Evening 
News, Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you.” 


It 


162 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


_ “Very well, sir. And this stone?” 

“Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, 
Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back, and leave it 
here with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman 
in place of the one which your family is now devouring.” 

When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the 
stone and held it against the light. “It’s a bonny thing,” 
said he. “Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it 
is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stoneis. They 
are the devil’s pet baits. In the larger and older jewels every 
facet may stand for a bloody deed. ‘This stone is not yet 
twenty years old. It was found in the banks of the Amoy 
River in Southern China, and is remarkable in having every 
characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is blue in shade, 
instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has already a 
sinister history. There have been two murders, a vitriol- 
throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about for 
the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallized charcoal. 
Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to 
the gallows and the prison? [I'll lock it up in my strong 
box now, and drop a line to the countess to say that we 
have it.” 

“Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?” 

“T cannot tell.” 

“Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry 
Baker, had anything to do with the matter ?” 

“Tt is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an 
absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which 
he was carrying was of considerably more value than if it 
were made of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine 
by a very simple test, if we have an answer to our advertise- 
ment.” | 

“And you can do nothing until then ?” 

“ Nothing.” 

' “Jn that case I shall continue my professional round. But 
I shall come back in the evening at the hour you have men- 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 163- 


tioned, for I should like to see the solution of so tangled a 
business.” | 

- “Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a wood- 
cock, I believe. By-the-way, in view of recent occurrences, 
perhaps I ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop.” 

I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half- 
past six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As 
I approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet 
with a coat which was buttoned up to his chin, waiting out- 
side in the bright semicircle which was thrown from the fan- 
light. Just as I arrived, the door was opened, and we were 
shown up together to Holmes’s room. 

“Mr. Henry Baker, I believe,” said he, rising from his arm- 
chair, and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality 
which he could so readily assume. “ Pray take this chair by 
the fire, Mr. Baker. It-is a cold night, and I observe that 
your circulation is more adapted for summer than for winter. 
Ah, Watson, you have just come at the right time. Is that 
your hat, Mr. Baker ?” 

“Ves, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat.” 

He was a large man, with rounded shoulders, a massive 
head, and a broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed 
beard of grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, 
with a slight tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes’s 
surmise as to his habits. His rusty black frock-coat was but- 
toned right up in front, with the collar turned up, and his lank 
wrists protruded from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or 
shirt. He spoke in a slow staccato fashion, choosing his 
words with care, and gave the impression generally of a man 
of learning and letters who had had ill-usage at the hands of 
fortune. | 

“We have retained these things for some days,” said 
Holmes, “‘ because we expected to see an advertisement from 
you giving your address. I am at a loss to know now why 
you did not advertise.” 

Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. “ Shillings 


164 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


have not been so plentiful with me as they once were,” he re- 
marked. “I had no doubt that the gang of roughs who as- 
saulted me had carried off both my hat and the bird. I did 
not care to spend more money in a a hopeless attempt at recov- 
ering them.” 

“Very naturally. By-the-way, about the bird, we were com- 
pelled to eat it.” | 

“To eat it!” Our visitor half rose from his chair in his 
excitement. 

“Yes, it would have been of no use to any one had we not 
done so. But I presume that this other goose upon the side- 
board, which is about the same weight and perfectly fresh, 
will answer your purpose equally well ?” 

“Oh, certainly, certainly ;’ answered Mr. Baker, with a sigh 
of relief. 

“Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on 
of your own bird, so if you wish—” 

The man burst into a hearty laugh. ‘They might be use- 
ful to me as relics of my adventure,” said he, “but beyond 
that I can hardly see what use the disyecta membra of my late 
acquaintance are going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, 
with your permission, I will confine my attentions to the ex- 
cellent bird which I perceive upon the sideboard.” 

Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight 
shrug of his shoulders. 

“There is your hat, then, and there your bird,” said he. 
‘“ By-the-way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the 
other one from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I 
have seldom seen a better grown goose.” 

“Certainly, sir,” said Baker, who had risen and tucked his 
newly-gained property under his arm. “There are a few of 
us who frequent the ‘Alpha Inn,’ near the Museum—we are 
to be found in the Museum itself during the day, you under- 
stand. This year our good host, Windigate by name, insti- 
tuted a goose club, by which, on consideration of some few 
pence every week, we were each to receive a bird at Christ- 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 165 


mas. My pence were duly paid, and the rest is familiar to 
you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a Scotch bonnet is 
fitted neither to my years nor my gravity.” With a comical 
pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and 
strode off upon his way. 

“So much for Mr. Henry Baker,” said Holmes, when he 
had closed the door behind him. “It is quite certain that he 
knows nothing whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, 
Watson ?” 

“Not particularly.” 

“ Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper, and 
follow up this clew while it is still hot.” 

“ By all means.” 

It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped 
¢ravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining 
coldly in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by 
blew out into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls 
rang out crisply and loudly as we swung through the Doctors’ 
quarter, Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wig- 
more Street into Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we 
were in Bloomsbury at the “ Alpha Inn,” which is a small 
public-house at the corner of one of the streets which runs 
down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open the door of the 
private bar, and ordered two glasses of beer from the ruddy- 
faced, white-aproned landlord. 

“Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your 
geese,” said he. 

**My geese!” The man seemed surprised. 

“Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry 
Baker, who was a member of your goose club.” 

“Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them’s not our geese.” 

“Indeed! Whose, then ?” 

“Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Gar- 
den.” 

“Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?” 

“ Breckinridge is his name.” 


166 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Ah! I don’t know him. Well, here’s your good health, 
landlord, and prosperity to your house. Good-night ?” 

“Now for Mr. Breckinridge,” he continued, buttoning up 
his coat, as we came out into the frosty air. “‘ Remember, 
Watson, that though we have so homely a thing as.a goose at 
ohe end of this chain, we have at the other a man who will 
certainly get seven years’ penal servitude unless we can’ es- 
tablish his innocence. It is possible that our inquiry may 
but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we have a line of in- 
vestigation which has been missed by the police, and which a 
singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us. follow it 
out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and quick 
march !” 

We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street ad Xe) 
through a zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market, One 
of the largest stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, 
and the proprietor, a horsey-looking man, with a sharp. face 
and trim side-whiskers, was helping a nay to put up. the 
shutters. 

“Good-evening. It’s a ee night,” said plies: 

‘The salesman nodded, and shot a ca glance at. my 
companion. 

“Sold out of geese, I see,” continued Holmes, pointing at 
the bare slabs of marble. 

“Tet you have 500 to-morrow morning.”’ 

“That's no good.” ° 

‘Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare.” 

“ Ah, but I was recommended to you.” 

* Who by?” 

“The landlord of. the ‘ Alpha.’” 

“Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen.” __ 

“Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you. get them 
from ?” 

To my surprise the question os tea a burst of anger 
from the salesman. 

*¢ Now, then, mister,” said he, with his head. cocked ra his 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 167 


arms akimbo, “what are you driving at? Let’s have it 
straight, now.” 

“It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold 
you the geese which you supplied to the ‘ Alpha.’ ”’ 

“Well, then, I sha’n’t tell you. So now!” 

“Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don’t know 
why you should be so warm over such a trifle.” 

“Warm! You’d be as warm, maybe, if you were as pes- 
tered as I am. When I pay good money for a good article 
there should be an end of the business; but it’s ‘Where are 
the geese ?’ and ‘Who did you sell the geese to?’ and ‘ What will 
you take for the geese?’ One would think they were the only 
geese in the world, to hear the fuss that is made over them.” 

“Well, I have no connection with any other people who 
have been making inquiries,” said Holmes, carelessly. “If 
you won’t tell us the bet is off, that is all. But I’m always 
ready to back my opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a 
fiver on it that the bird I ate is country bred.” 

“Well, then, you’ve lost your fiver, for it’s town a _ 
snapped the salesman. 

“It’s nothing of the kind.” 

“T say it is.” 

“TI don’t believe it.” 

“D’you think you know more about fowls than I, who have 
handled them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those 
birds that went to the ‘ Alpha’ were town bred.” 

“You'll never persuade me to believe that.” 

“Will you bet, then ?” 

“It’s merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. 
But Ill have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to 
be obstinate.” 

The salesman chuckled grimly. “ Bring me the books, 

Bill,” said he. | 

_ The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a 
great greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath 
the hanging lamp. 


168 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Now then, Mr. Cocksure,” said the salesman, “I thought 
that I was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that 
there is still one left in my shop. You see this little book ?” 

“Well?” : 

“That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D’you see? 
Well, then, here on this page are the country folk, and the 
numbers after their names are where their accounts are in the 
big ledger. Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? 
Well, that is a list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that 
third name. Just read it out to me.” 

“Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road—z49,” read Holmes. 

* Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger.” 

Holmes turned to the page indicated. ‘ Here you are, 
‘Mrs, Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry sup- 
plier.’” 

“‘ Now, then, what’s the last entry ?” 

“*¢ December 22. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.’”’ 

“Quite so. There you are. And underneath?” 

«Sold to Mr. Windigate of the ‘ Alpha,’ at 12s.’ ” 

“What have you to say now?” 

Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a 
sovereign from his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, 
turning away with the air of a man whose disgust is too deep 
for words. A few yards off he stopped under a lamp-post, 
and laughed in the hearty, noiseless fashion which was pecul- 
iar to him. 

“When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 
‘pink ’un’ protruding out of his pocket, you can always 
draw him by a bet,” said he. “I dare say that if I had put 
#100 down in front of him, that man would not have given 
me such complete information as was drawn from him by 
the idea that he was doing me on a wager. Well, Watson, 
we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our quest, and the only 
point which remains to be determined is whether we should 
go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or whether we should re- 
serve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what that surly fellow 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 169 


said that there are others besides ourselves who are anxious 
about the matter, and I should—” 

His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub 
which broke out from the stall which we had just left. Turn- 
ing round we saw a little rat-faced fellow standing in the cen- 
tre of the circle of yellow light which was thrown by the 
swinging lamp, while Breckinridge the salesman, framed in 
the door of his stall, was shaking his fists fiercely at the 
cringing figure. 

“T’ve had enough of you and your geese,” he shouted. “I 
wish you were all at the devil together. If you come pester- 
ing me any more with your silly talk I’ll set the dog at you. 
You bring Mrs. Oakshott here and I’ll answer her, but what 
have you to do with it? Did I buy the geese off you?” 

“No; but one of them was mine all the same,” whined the 
little man. 

“ Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it.” 

‘She told me to ask you.” 

“Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. 
I’ve had enough of it. Get out of this!” He rushed fiercely 
forward, and the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. 

“ Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road,” whispered 
Holmes. ‘“ Come with me, and we will see what is to be 
made of this fellow.” Striding through the scattered knots 
of people who lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion 
speedily overtook the little man and touched him upon the 
shoulder. He sprang round, and I could see in the gas- 
light that every vestige of color had been driven from his 
face. 

“Who are you, then? What do you want?” he asked, in a 
quavering voice. 

“You will excuse me,” said Holmes, blandly, “but I could 
not help overhearing the questions which you put to the sales- 
man just now. I think that I could be of assistance to you.” 

“You? Who are you? How could you know anything of 
the matter?” 


170 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Myname is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know 
what other people don’t know.” 

“But you can know nothing of this ?”’ 

“Excuse me, I know everything of-it. You are endeavor- 
ing to trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of 
Brixton Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in 
turn to Mr. Windigate, of the ‘ Alpha,’ and by him to his club, 
of which Mr. Henry Baker is a member.” 

“Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed-to 
meet,” cried the little fellow, with outstretched hands and 
quivering fingers. “I can hardly explain to you how inter- 
ested I am in this matter.” 

Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. 
“Tn that case we had better discuss it in a cosey room rather 
than in this windswept market-place,” said he. ‘“ But pray 
tell me, before we go farther, who it is that I have the pleas- 
ure of assisting.” 

The man hesitated for an instant. “My name is John 
Robinson,” he answered, with a sidelong glance. 

“No, no; the real name,” said Holmes, sweetly. “It is 
always awkward doing business with an alias.” 

A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. ‘“ Well, 
then,” said he, “my real name is James Ryder.” 

“Precisely so. Head attendant at the ‘ Hotel Cosmopolitan.’ 
Pray step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you 
everything which you would wish to know.” 

The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us 
with half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure 
whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. 
Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were 
back in the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been 
said during our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new 
companion, and the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, 
spoke of the nervous tension within him. 

“ Here we are!’ said Holmes, cheerily, as we filed into the 
room. “The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE | 171 


look cold, Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just 
put on my slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. 
Now, then! You want to know what became of those 
geese ?” 

“Ves, sir.” 

“ Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I im- 
agine, in which you were interested—white, with a black bar 
across the tail.” 

Ryder quivered with emotion. “Oh, sir, he cried,” can you 
‘tell me where it went to?” 

**Tt came here.” 

i Here 2?” 

“Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don’t won- 
‘der that you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after 
it was dead—the bonniest, brightest iss blue egg that ever 
was seen. I have it here in my museum.’ 

Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantel- 
piece with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box, 
and held up the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, 
with a cold, brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood 
glaring with a drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to 
disown it. yrs 

“The game’s up, Ryder,” said Holmes, quietly. “ Hold 
up, man, or you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back 
into his chair, Watson. He’s not got blood enough to go in 
for felony with impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. ‘So! 
Now he looks a little more human. What a shrimp it is, to 
be sure !” | 

For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the 
brandy brought a tinge of color into his cheeks, and he sat 
staring with frightened eyes at his accuser. | 

“T have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs 
which I could possibly need, so there is little which you need 
‘tell me. Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make 
the case complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone 
of the Countess of Morcar’s ?” 


] 


172 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it,” said he, in a 
crackling voice. 

“‘T see—her ladyship’s waiting-maid. Well, the temptation 
of sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as 
it has been for better men before you; but you were not very 
scrupulous in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, 
that there is the making of a very pretty villain in you. You 
knew that this man Horner, the plumber, had been concerned 
in some such matter before, and that suspicion would rest the 
more readily upon him. What did you do, then? You made 
some small job in my lady’s room—you and your confederate 
Cusack—and you managed that he should be the man sent 
for. Then, when he had left, you rifled the jewel-case, raised 
the alarm, and had this unfortunate man arrested. You 
then—” : 

Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and 
clutched at my companion’s knees. ‘ For God’s sake, have 
mercy!” he shrieked. ‘Think of my father! of my mother! 
It would break their hearts. I never went wrong before! I 
never will again. I swear it. Ill swear it on a Bible. Oh, 
don’t bring it into court! For Christ’s sake, don’t!” 

“Get back into your chair!” said Holmes, sternly. “It is 
very well to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little 
enough of this poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which 
he knew nothing.” . 

“T will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then 
the charge against him will break down.” 

“Hum! We will talk about that. And now letus hear a 
true account of the next act. How came the stone into the 
goose, and how came the goose into the open market? Tell 
us the truth, for there lies your only hope of safety.” 

Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. “TI will tell 
you it just as it happened, sir,’ said he. “When Horner had 
been arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me 
to get away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what 
moment the police might not take it into their heads to search 


a 


ae, punrer 
. Penainccenceentete et 


MAtoobee 


‘** HAVE MERCY! HE SHRIEKED” 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 173 


me and my room. ‘There was no place about the hotel where 
it would be safe. I went out, as if on some commission, and 
I made for my sister’s house. She had married a man named 
Oakshott, and lived in Brixton Road, where she fattened fowls 
for the market. All the way there every man I met seemed to 
me to be a policeman or a detective; and, for all that it was 
a cold night, the sweat was pouring down my face before I 
came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me what was the 
matter, and why I was so pale; but.I told her that I had been 
upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went into the 
back yard and smoked a pipe, and wondered what it would 
be best to do. % 

“T had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, 
and has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day 
he had met me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, 
and how they could get rid of what they stole. I knew that 
he would be true to me, for I knew one or two things about 
him ; so I made up my mind to go right on to Kilburn, where 
he lived, and take him into my confidence. He would show 
me how to turn the stone into money. But how to get to him 
in safety? I thought of the agonies I had gone through in 
coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be seized and 
searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat pocket. 
I was leaning against the wall at the time, and looking at the 
geese which were waddling about round my feet, and sudden- 
ly an idea came into my head which showed me how I could 
beat the best detective that ever lived. 

‘My sister had told me some weeks before that I might 
have the pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew 
that she was always as good as her word. I would take my 
goose now, and in it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. 
There was a little shed in the yard, and behind this I drove 
one of the birds—a fine big one, white, with a barred tail. I 
caught it, and, prying its bill open, I thrust the stone down 
its throat as far as my finger could reach. The bird gave a 
gulp, and I felt the stone pass along its gullet and down into 


174 - ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


its crop. But the creature flapped and struggled, and out 
came my sister to know what was the matter. As I turned 
to speak to her the brute broke loose and fluttered off among. 
the others. , | | 

““* Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?’ says she. 

“¢ Well,’ said I, ‘you said you’d give me one for Christmas, 
and I was feeling which was the fattest.’ | 

““*Oh,’ says she, ‘we’ve set yours aside for you—Jem’s bird, 
we call it. It’s the big white one over yonder. There’s twen- 
ty-six of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and 
two dozen for the market.’ . 

“<Thank you, Maggie,’ says I; ‘but if it is all the same to 
you, I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.’ 

“*The other is a good three pound heavier,’ said she, ‘and 
we fattened it expressly for you.’ 3 =! 

“Never mind. I'll have the other, and I’ll take it now,’ 
said I. | 

““*Oh, just as you like,’ said she, a little huffed. ‘Which is 
it you want, then ?” 

“<«That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle 
of the flock.’ : 

“<¢QOh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.’ 

“Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the 
bird all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, 
for he was a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. 
He laughed until he choked, and we got a knife and opened 
the goose. My heart turned to water, for there was no sign 
of the stone, and I knew that some terrible mistake had oc- 
curred. I left the bird, rushed back to my sister’s, and hurried 
into the back yard. There was not a bird to be seen there. 

“‘« Where are they all, Maggie?’ I cried. 

““¢Gone to the dealer’s, Jim.’ 

“¢¢ Which dealer’s ?” 

“© Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.’ 

“ «But was there another with a barred tail ?’ I asked, ‘the 

same as the one I chose?’ 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 175 


““¢ Ves, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could 
never tell them apart.’ 

“Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as 
my feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had 
sold the lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to 
‘where they had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. 
Well, he has always answered me like that. My sister thinks 
that Iam going mad. Sometimes I think that I am myself. 
And now—and now I am myself a branded thief, without ever 
having touched the wealth for which I sold my character. 
God help me! God help me!” He burst into convulsive 
sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. ; 

There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breath- 
ing, and by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes’s fin-: 
ger-tips upon the edge of the table. Then my friend rose and 
threw open the door. 

“Get out!” said he. 

“What, sir! Oh, heaven bless you!” 

““No more words. Get out!” 

And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a 
clatter upon the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rat- 
tle of running footfalls from the street. ) 

_“ After all, Watson,” said Holmes, reaching up his hand 
for his clay pipe, “I am not retained by the police to supply 
their deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be an- 
other thing; but this fellow will not appear against him, and 
the case must collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a 
felony, but it is just possible that I am saving a soul. This 
fellow will not go wrong again; he is too terribly frightened. 
Send him to jail now, and you make him a jail-bird for life. 
Besides, it is the season of forgiveness. Chance has put in. 
our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and its solu- 
tion is its own reward. If you will have the goodness to 
touch the bell, doctor, we will begin another investigation, in 
which, also, a bird will be the chief feature.” 


Adventure VAT 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 


YAN glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases 
) in which I have during the last eight years studied 

YAAN| the methods of my friend Sherlock Holmes, I find 
> rs) many tragic, some comic, a large number merely 
strange, but none commonplace ; for, working as he did rath- 
er for the love of his art than for the acquirement of wealth, 
he refused to associate himself with any investigation which 
did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. 
Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which 
presented more singular features than that which was associ- 
ated with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of 
Stoke Moran. ‘The events in question occurred in the early 
days of my association with Holmes, when we were sharing 
rooms as bachelors in Baker Street. It is possible that I 
might have placed them upon record before, but a promise of 
secrecy was made at the time, from which I have only been 
freed during the last month by the untimely death of the lady 
to whom the pledge was given. It is perhaps as well that the 
facts should now come to light, for I have reasons to know 
that there are wide-spread rumors as to the death of Dr. 
Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even more 
terrible than the truth. 

It was early in April in the year 83 that I woke one morn- 
ing to find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the 
side of my bed. He was a late riser as a rule, and as the 
clock on the mantel-piece showed me that it was only a quar- 
ter past seven, I blinked up at him in some surprise, and per- 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 177 


haps just a little resentment, for I was myself regular in my 
habits. 

“Very sorry to knock you up, Watson,” said he, “but it’s 
the common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked 
up, she retorted upon me, and I on you.” 

“What is it, then—a fire ?” 

“No; aclient. It seems that a young lady has arrived in 
a considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing 
me. She is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when 
young ladies wander about the metropolis at this hour of the 
morning, and knock sleepy people up out of their beds, I pre- 
sume that it is something very pressing which they have to 
communicate. Should it prove to be an interesting case, you 
would, I am sure, wish to follow it from the outset. I thought, 
at any rate, that I should call you and give you the chance.” 

“My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything.” 

I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his 
professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deduc- 
tions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a log- 
ical basis, with which he unravelled the problems which were 
submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes, and was 
ready in a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the 
sitting-room. A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, 
who had been sitting in the window, rose as we entered. 

“ Good-morning, madam,” said Holmes, cheerily. “My 
name is Sherlock Holmes. This is my intimate friend and 
associate, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely 
as before myself. Ha! I am glad to see that Mrs. Hudson 
has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw up to it, 
and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that 
you are shivering.” 

“Tt is not cold which makes me shiver,” said the woman, 
in a low voice, changing her seat as requested. 

“What, then ?” 

“Tt is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.” She raised her 


veil as she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a 
12 


178 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


pitiable state of agitation, her face all drawn and gray, with 
restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. 
Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but 
her. hair was shot with premature gray, and her expression 
was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with 
one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances. 

“You must not fear,” said he, soothingly, bending forward 
and patting her forearm. “We shall soon set matters right, 
I have no doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I 
see.” 

“You know me, then ?” 

““No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the 
palm of your left glove. You must have started early, and 
yet you had a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, be- 
fore you reached the station.” 

The lady gave a violent start, and stared in bewilderment 
at my companion. 

“There is no mystery, my dear madam,” said he, smiling. 
“The left arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less 
than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is 
no vehicle save a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, 
and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the 
driver.” 

‘Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct,” 
said she. ‘I started from home before six, reached Leather- 
head at twenty past, and came in by the first train to Water- 
loo. Sir, I can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if 
it continues. I have no one to turn to—none, save only one, 
who cares for me, and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I 
have heard of you, Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from 
Mrs. Farintosh, whom you helped in the hour of her sore need. 
It was from her that I had your address. Oh, sir, do you not 
think that you could help me, too, and at least throw a little 
light through the dense darkness which surrounds me? At 
present it is out of my power to reward you for your services, 
but in a month or six weeks I shall be married, with the con- 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 179 


trol of my own income, and then at least you shall not find 
me ungrateful.” 

Holmes turned to his desk, and unlocking it, drew out a 
small case-book, which he consulted. 

“Farintosh,” said he. “Ah yes, I recall the case; it was 
concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your 
time, Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy 
to devote the same care to your case as I did to that of your 
friend. As to reward, my profession is its own reward; but 
you are at liberty to defray whatever expenses I may be put 
to, at the time which suits you best. And now I beg that you 
will lay before us ee dana that may help us in forming an 
opinion upon the matter.” 

“‘ Alas!” replied our visitor, “the very horror of my situa- 
tion lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspi- 
cions depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem 
trivial to another, that even he to whom of all others I have a 
right to look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him 
about it as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not 
say so, but I can read it from his soothing answers and avert- 
ed eyes. But I have heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see 
deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. 
You may advise me how to walk amid the dangers which en- 
compass me.” ; 

“T am all attention, madam.” 

‘““My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my step- 
father, who is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon fam- 
ilies in England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western 
border of Surrey.” 

Holmes nodded his head. ‘“ The name is familiar to me,” 
said he. 

“The family was at one time among the richest in England, 
and the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in 
the north, and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, 
however, four successive heirs were of a dissolute and waste- 
ful disposition, and the family ruin was eventually completed 


180 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


by a gambler in the days of the Regency. Nothing was left 
save a few acres of ground, and the two-hundred- year-old 
house, which is itself crushed under a heavy mortgage. The 
last squire dragged out his existence there, living the horrible 
life of an aristocratic pauper ; but his only son, my step-father, 
seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions, ob- 
tained an advance from a relative, which enabled him to take 
a medical degree, and went out to Calcutta, where, by his pro- 
fessional skill and his force of character, he established a 
large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused by some 
robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat 
his native butler to death, and narrowly escaped a capital sen- 
tence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment, 
and afterwards returned to England a morose and disappoint- 
ed man. 

“When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, 
Mrs. Stoner, the young widow of Major-general Stoner, of the 
Bengal Artillery. My sister Julia and I were twins, and we 
were only two years old at the time of my mother’s re-mar- 
riage. She had a considerable sum of money—not less than 
#1000 a year—and this she bequeathed to Dr. Roylott 
entirely while we resided with him, with a provision that a 
certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the 
event of our marriage. Shortly after our return to England 
my mother died—she was killed eight years ago in a railway 
accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his at- 
tempts to establish himself in practice in London, and took 
us to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. 
The money which my mother had left was enough for all our 
wants, and there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. 

“ But a terrible change came over our step-father about this 
time. Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our 
neighbors, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of 
Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up 
in his house, and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious 
quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of tem- 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 181 


per approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of 
the family, and in my step-father’s case it had, I believe, been 
intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of 
disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the 
police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, 
and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of im- 
mense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. 

“Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet 
into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money 
which I could gather together that I was able to avert another 
public exposure. He had no friends at all save the wander- 
ing gypsies, and he would give these vagabonds leave to en- 
camp upon the few acres of bramble-covered land which 
represent the family estate, and would accept in return the 
hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them some- 
times for weeks on end. He has a passion also for Indian 
animals, which are sent over to him by a correspondent, and 
he has at this moment a cheetah and a’ baboon, which wander 
freely over his grounds, and are feared by the villagers almost 
as much as their master. 

“You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister 
Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant 
would stay with us, and for a long time we did all the work of 
the house. She was but thirty at the time of her death, and 
yet her hair had already begun to whiten, even as mine has.” 

“Your sister is dead, then ?” 

“She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I 
wish to speak to you. You can understand that, living the 
life which I have described, we were little likely to see any one 
of our own age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my 
mother’s maiden sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives 
near Harrow, and we were occasionally allowed to pay short 
visits at this lady’s house. Julia went there at Christmas two 
years ago, and met there a half-pay major of marines, to 
whom she became engaged. My step-father learned of the 
engagement when my sister returned, and offered no objec- 


182 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


tion to the marriage; but within a fortnight of the day which 
had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event occurred 
which has deprived me of my only companion.” 

Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with 
his eyes closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half 
opened his lids now and glanced across at his visitor. 

“Pray be precise as to details,” said he. 

“Tt is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dread- 
ful time is seared into my memory. ‘The manor-house is, as 
I have already said, very old, and only one wing is now in- 
habited. The bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, 
the sitting-rooms being in the central block of the buildings. 
Of these bedrooms the first is Dr. Roylott’s, the second my 
sister’s, and the third my own. There is no communication 
between them, but they all open out into the same corridor. 
Do I make myself plain ?” | 

** Perfectly so.” 

“The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. 
That fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, 
though we knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister 
was troubled by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which 
it was his custom to smoke. She left her room, therefore, 
and came into mine, where she sat for some time, chatting 
about her approaching wedding. At eleven o’clock she rose 
to leave me but she paused at the door and looked back. 

“<Tell me, Helen,’ said she, ‘have you ever heard any one 
whistle in the dead of the night ?” 

*“ Never,’ said I. 

““*T suppose that you could not possibly whistle, ctor 
in your sleep ?” 

“¢Certainly not. But why ?’ 

*“*¢ Because during the last few nights I have always, about 
three in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light 
sleeper, and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came 
from—perhaps from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I 
thought that I would just ask you whether you had heara it.’ 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 183 


“*No, I have not. It must be those wretched gypsies in 
the plantation.’ 

“*¢Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder 
that you did not hear it also.’ 

“Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.’ 

“¢Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.’ She 
smiled back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later 
I heard her key turn in the lock.” 

“Indeed,” said Holmes. “Was it your custom always to 
lock yourselves in at night ?” 

“ Always.” 

“ And why ?” 

“T think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a 
cheetah and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless 
our doors were locked.” 

“Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.” 

“T could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impend- 
ing misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will rec- 
ollect, were twins, and you know how subtle are the links 
which bind two souls which are so closely allied. It was a 
wild night. The wind was howling outside, and the rain was 
beating and splashing against the windows. Suddenly, amid 
all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream 
of a terrified woman. I knew that it was my sister’s voice. 
I sprang from my bed, wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed 
into the corridor. As I opened my door I seemed to hear a 
low whistle, such as my sister described, and a few moments 
later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen. As 
I ran down the passage, my sister’s door was unlocked, and 
revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it horror-stricken, 
not knowing what was about to issue from it. By the light of 
the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the opening, her 
face blanched with terror, her hands groping for help, her 
whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a drunkard. I ran 
to her and threw my arms round her, but at that moment her 
knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. She 


184 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were 
dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not 
recognized me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked 
out in a voice which I shall never forget, ‘Oh, my God! 
Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!’ There was 
something else which she would fain have said, and she 
stabbed with her finger into the air in the direction of the 
doctor’s room, but a fresh convulsion seized her and choked 
her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for my step-father, 
and I met him hastening from his room in his dressing-gown. 
When he reached my sister’s side she was unconscious, and 
though he poured brandy down her throat and sent for med- 
ical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for she slow- 
ly sank and died without having recovered her consciousness. 
Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister.” 

“One moment,” said Holmes; “are you sure about this 
whistle and metallic sound? Could you swear to it ?” 

“That was what the county coroner asked me at the inqui- 
ry. It ismy strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among 
the crash of the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may 
possibly have been deceived.” 

“Was your sister dressed ?” 

“No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was 
found the charred stump of a match, and in her left a match- 
box.” : 

“Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her 
when the alarm took place. That is important. And what 
conclusions did the coroner come to ?” 

“He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott’s 
conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was 
unable to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence 
showed that the door had been fastened upon the inner side, 
and the windows were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with 
broad iron bars, which were secured every night. The walls 
were carefully sounded, and were shown to be quite solid all 
round, and the flooring was also thoroughly examined, with 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 185 


the same result. The chimney is wide, but is barred up by 
four large staples. It is certain, therefore, that my sister was 
quite alone when she met her end. Besides, there were no 
marks of any violence upon her.” 

“ How about poison ?” 

“The doctors examined her for it, but without success.” 

“What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, 
then ?” 

“Tt is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous 
shock, though what it was that frightened her I cannot imag- 
ine.” 

“Were there gypsies in the plantation at the time?” 

“Yes, there are nearly always some there.” 

“ Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band 
—a speckled band ?” 

“Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk 
of delirum, sometimes that it may have referred to some band 
of people, perhaps to these very gypsies in the plantation. I 
do not know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so 
many of them wear over their heads might have suggested the 
strange adjective which she used.” 

Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being 
satisfied. 

“These are very deep waters,” said he; “pray go on with 
your narrative.” ¢ 

“Two years have passed since then, and my life has been 
until lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear 
friend, whom I have known for many years, has done me the 
honor to ask my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage— 
Percy Armitage—the second son of Mr. Armitage, ofCrane 
Water, near Reading. My step-father has offered no opposi- 
tion to the match, and we are to be married in the course of 
the spring. Two days ago some repairs were started in the 
west wing of the building, and my bedroom wall has been 
pierced, so that I have had to move into the chamber in which 
my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in which she 


186 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last night, as I 
lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I suddenly heard in 
the silence of the night the low whistle which had been the 
herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the lamp, but 
nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to go 
to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was 
daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the ‘Crown Inn,’ 
which is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence 
I have come on this morning with the one object of seeing 
you and asking your advice.” 

“You have done wisely,” said my friend. ‘ But have you 
told me all?” 

“Yes, all.” 

“Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your step- 
father.”’ 

“Why, what do you mean ?” 

For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace 
which fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor’s knee. Five 
little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were 
printed upon the white wrist. 

“You have been cruelly used,” said Holmes. 

The lady colored deeply and covered over her injured 
wrist. ‘‘He is a hard man,” she said, “and perhaps he hard- 
ly knows his own strength.” 

There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned 
his chin upon his hands and stared into the crackling 
fire. | 

“This is a very deep business,” he said, at last. ‘There 
are a thousand details which I should desire to know before I 
decide upon our course of action. Yet we have not a mo- 
ment to lose. If we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, 
would it be possible for us to see over these rooms without 
the knowledge of your step-father ?” 

“ As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon 
some most important business. It is probable that he will be 
away all day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 187 


We have a house-keeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I 

could easily get her out of the way.” 

_ “Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson ?” 
“By no means.” ; 
“Then we shall both come. What are you going to do 

yourself ?” : 

‘“‘T have one or two things which I would wish to do now 
that I am in town. But I shall return by the twelve o’clock 
train, so as to be there in time for your coming.” 

“And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have 
myself some small business matters to attend to. Will you 
not wait and breakfast ?” 

“No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I 
have confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to see- 

ing you again this afternoon.” She dropped her thick black 

_ veil over her face and glided from the room. 

‘‘And what do you think of it all, Watson?” asked Sher- 
lock Holmes, leaning back in his chair. 

“Tt seems to me to be a most dark and sinister busi- 
ness.” 

“Dark enough and sinister enough.” 

“Vet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and 
walls are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are. 
impassable, then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone 
when she met her mysterious end.” 

“What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what 
of the very peculiar words of the dying woman ?” 

“T cannot think.” 

“When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the pres- 
ence of a band of gypsies who are on intimate terms with this 
old doctor, the fact that we have every reason to believe that 
the doctor has an interest in preventing his step-daughter’s 
marriage, the dying allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact 
that Miss Helen Stoner heard a metallic clang, which might 
have been caused by one of those metal bars which secured 
the shutters falling back into their place, I think that there is 


188 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


good ground to think that the mystery may be cleared along 
those lines.” 

“ But what, then, ae the gypsies do?” 

“T cannot imagine.” 

“T see many objections to any such ecu 

“And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are 
going to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the 
objections are fatal, or if they may be explained away. But 
what in the name of the devil!” 

The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by 
the fact that our door had been suddenly dashed open, and 
that a huge man had framed himself in the aperture. His 
costume was a peculiar mixture of the professional and of the 
agricultural, having a black top-hat,a long frock-coat, and a 
pair of high gaiters, with a hunting-crop swinging in.his hand. 
So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross bar of 
the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span it across from 
side to side. A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, 
burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil pas- 
sion, was turned from one to the other of us, while his deep- 
set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, fleshless nose, gave him 
somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey. 

“Which of you is Holmes?” asked this apparition. 

“My name, sir; but you have the Aelvantage of me,” said 
my companion, anieile. 

“JT am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.” 

“Indeed, doctor,” said Holmes, blandly. ‘Pray take a 
seat.” 

“T will do nothing of the kind. My step-daughter has been 
here. I have traced her. What has she been saying to you?” 
“Tt is alittle cold for the time of the year,” said Holmes. 

“What has she been saying to you?” screamed the old iss 
furiously. 

“ But I have heard that the crocuses promise well,” contin- 
ued my companion, imperturbably. 

“Ha! You put me off, do you?” said our new visitor, 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 189 


taking a step forward and shaking his hunting-crop. “I 
know you, you scoundrel! I have heard of you before. You 
are Holmes, the meddler.” 

My friend smiled. 

“ Holmes, the busybody !” 

His smile broadened. 

“ Holmes, the Scotland-yard Jack-in-office !” 

Holmes chuckled heartily. “Your conversation is most 
entertaining,” said he. ‘When you go out close the door, for 
there is a decided draught.” 

“T will go when I have said my say. Don’t you dare to 
meddle with my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been 
here. I traced her! I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! 
See here.” He stepped swiftly forward, seized the poker, and 
bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands. 

“See that you keep yourself out of my grip,” he snarled, 
and hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace, he strode out 
of the room. 

“He seems a very amiable person,” said Holmes, laughing. 
“T am not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might 
have shown him that my grip was not much more feeble than 
his own.” As he spoke he picked up the steel poker, and 
with a sudden effort straightened it out again. 

“Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the 
official detective force! This incident gives zest to our inves- 
tigation, however, and I only trust that our little friend will 
not suffer from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace 
her. And now, Watson, we shall order breakfast, and after- 
wards I shall walk down to Doctors’ Commons, where I hope 
to get some data which may help us in this matter.” 


It was nearly one o’clock when Sherlock Holmes returned 
from his excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue pa- 
per, scrawled over with notes and figures. 

“T have seen the will of the deceased wife,” said he. “To 
determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out 


190 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


the present prices of the investments with which it is con- 
cerned. ‘The total income, which at the time of the wife’s 
death was little short of £1100, is now, through the fall in ag- 
ricultural prices, not more than £750: Each daughter can 
claim an income of £250, in case of marriage. It is evident, 
therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would 
have had a mere pittance, while even one of them would crip- 
ple him to a very serious extent. My morning’s work has not 
been wasted, since it has proved that he has the very strongest 
motives for standing in the way of anything of the sort. And 
now, Watson, this is too serious for dawdling, especially as 
the old man is aware that we are interesting ourselves in his 
affairs; so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to 
Waterloo. I should be very much obliged if you would slip 
your revolver into your pocket. An Eley’s No. 2 is an excel- 
lent argument with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers inte 
knots. ‘That and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.” 

At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for 
Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn, and 
drove for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. 
It was a perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds 
in the heavens. The trees and way-side hedges were just 
throwing out their first green shoots, and the air was full of 
the pleasant smell of the moist earth. To me at least there 
was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of the 
spring and this sinister quest upon which we were engaged. 
My companion sat in the front of the trap, his arms folded, 
his hat pulled down over his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his 
breast, buried in the deepest thought. Suddenly, however, 
he started, tapped me on the shoulder, and pointed over the 
meadows. ; 

“Look there!” said he. 

A heavily-timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, 
thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the 
branches there jutted out the gray gables and high roof-tree 
of a very old mansion, 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND IgI 


“ Stoke Moran ?” said he. | 

“Ves, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,” re- 
marked the driver. 

“There is some building going on there,” said Holmes; 
“that is where we are going.” 

“There’s the village,” said the driver, pointing to a cluster 
of roofs some distance to the left; “ but if you want to get 
to the house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so 
by the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady 
is walking.” 

“ And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner,” observed Holmes, 
shading his eyes. ‘Yes, I think we had better do as you 
suggest.” 

We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its 
way to Leatherhead. 

“I thought it as well,” said Holmes, as we climbed the 
stile, “that this fellow should think we had come here as 
architects, or on some definite business. It may stop his 
gossip. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have 
been as good as our word.” 

Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us 
with a face which spoke her joy. “I have been waiting so 
eagerly for you,” she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. 
“All has turned out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to 
town, and it is unlikely that he will be back before evening.” 

“We have had the pleasure of making the doctor’s acquaint-. 
ance,” said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what 
had occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she 
listened. 

“Good heavens !” she cried, ‘he has followed me, then.” 

“So it appears.” 

“He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from 
him. What will he say when he returns ?” | 

‘“‘He must guard himself, for he may find that there is some 
one more cunning than himself upon his track. You must 
lock yourself up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall 


192 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


take you away to your aunt’s at Harrow. Now, we must make 
the best use of our time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms 
which we are to examine.” 

The building was of gray, lichen-blotched stone, with a high 
central portion, and two curving wings, like the claws of a 
crab, thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the 
windows were broken, and blocked with wooden boards, while 
the roof was partly caved in, a picture of ruin. The centra. 
portion was in little better repair, but the right-hand block 
was comparatively modern, and the blinds in the windows, 
with the blue smoke curling up from the chimneys, showed 
that this was where the family resided. Some scaffolding had 
been erected against the end wall, and the stone-work had 
been broken into, but there were no signs of any workmen at 
the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and down 
the ill-trimmed lawn, and examined with deep attention the 
outsides of the windows. 

“ This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to 
sleep, the centre one to your sister’s, and the one next to the 
main building to Dr. Roylott’s chamber ?” 

“Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one.” 

“Pending the alterations, as I understand. By-the-way, 
there does not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs 
at that end wall.” 

“There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move 
me from my room.” 

“Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this 
narrow wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms 
open. ‘There are windows in it, of course ?” 

“Ves, but very small ones. Too narrow for any one to pass 
through.” 

* As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were 
unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the 
kindness to go into your room and bar your shutters.” 

Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examina- 
tion through the open window, endeavored in every way to 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 193 


force the shutter open, but without success. There was no 
slit through which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. 
Then with his lens he tested the hinges, but they were of 
solid iron, built firmly into the massive masonry. ‘ Hum!” 
said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity ; “my theory 
certainly presents some difficulties. No one could pass these 
shutters if they were bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside 
throws any light upon the matter. 

A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from 
which the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to ex- 
amine the third chamber, so we passed at once to the second, 
that in which Miss Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her 
sister had met with her fate. It was a homely little room, 
with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after the fashion of 
old country-houses. A brown chest of drawers stood in one 
corner, a narrow white-counterpaned bed in another, and a 
dressing-table on the left-hand side of the window. These 
articles, with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the 
furniture in the room, save for a square of Wilton carpet in 
the centre. The boards round and the panelling of the walls 
were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old and discolored that it 
may have dated from the original building of the house. 
Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent, 
while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, 
taking in every detail of the apartment. 

“Where does that bell communicate with?” he asked, at 
last, pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the 
bed, the tassel actually lying upon the pillow. 

“It goes to the house-keeper’s room.” 

“Tt looks newer than the other things ?” 

“Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago.” 

“Your sister asked for it, I suppose?” 

“No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get 
what we wanted for ourselves.”’ 

“Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull 


there. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy 
13 


194 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


myself as to this floor.” He threw himself down upon his 
face with his lens in his hand, and crawled swiftly backward 
and forward, examining minutely the cracks between the 
boards. Then he did the same with the wood-work with 
which the chamber was panelled. Finally he walked over to 
the bed, and spent some time in staring at it, and in running 
his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the bell-rope 
in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. 

“Why, it’s a dummy,” said he. 

“Won’t it ring ?” 

“No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very in- 
teresting. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just 
above where the little opening for the ventilator is.” 

“How very absurd! I never noticed that before.” 

“Very strange!” muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. 
“There are one or two very singular points about this room. 
For example, what a fool a builder must be to open a ventila- 
tor into another room, when, with the same trouble, he might 
have communicated with the outside air!” 

“That is also quite modern,” said the lady. 

“Done about the same time as the bell-rope?” remarked 
Holmes. 

“Ves, there were several little changes carried out about 
that time.” - 

“They seem to have been of a most interesting character— 
dummy bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. 
With your permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our 
researches into the inner apartment.” 

Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s chamber was larger than that of his 
step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a 
small wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical charac- 
ter, an arm-chair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against 
the wall, a round table, and a large iron safe were the princi- 
pai things which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round 
and examined each and all of them with the keenest interest. 

‘*What’s in here?” he asked, tapping the safe. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 195 


“My step-father’s business papers.” 

“Oh! you have seen inside, then ?” 

“Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full 
of papers.” 

© There isn’t a cat in it, for example?” 

“No. What a strange idea!” 

“Well, look at this!’ He took up a small saucer of milk 
which stood on the top of it. - 

“No; we don’t keepa cat. But there is a cheetah and a 
baboon.” 

“‘ Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and 
yet a saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its 
wants, I dare say. There is one point which I should wish to 
determine.” He squatted down in front of the wooden chair, 
and examined the seat of it with the greatest attention. 

“Thank you. That is quite settled,” said he, rising and 
putting his lens in his pocket. “Hello! Here is something 
interesting !” 

- The object which had caught his eye was a email dog-lash 
hung on one corner of the bed. ‘The lash, however, was curled 
upon itself, and tied so as to make a loop of whip-cord. 

“What do you make of that, Watson?” 

“It’s a common enough lash. But I don’t know why it 
should be tied.” 

“That is not quite socommon, is it? Ah, me! it’s a wicked 
world, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is 
the worst of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss 
Stoner, and with your permission we shall walk out upon the 
lawn.” 

I had never seen my friend’s face so grim or his brow so 
dark as it was when we turned from the scene of this investi- 
gation. We had walked several times up and down the lawn, 
neither Miss Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his 
thoughts before he roused himself from his reverie. 

“Tt is very essential, Miss Stoner,” said he, “that you 
should absolutely follow my advice in every respect.” 


196 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


**T shall most certainly do so.” 

“The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life 
may depend upon your compliance.” 

“T assure you that I am in your hands.” 

“In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the 
night in your room.” 

Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. 

“Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that 
is the village inn over there ?” 

“Ves, that is the ‘Crown.’” 

“Very good. Your windows would be visible from there ?” 

“ Certainly.” 

“You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a 
headache, when your step-father comes back. Then when you 
hear him retire for the night, you must open the shutters of 
your window, undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal 
to us, and then withdraw quietly with everything which you 
are likely to want into the room which you used to occupy. 
I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs, you could man- 
age there for one night.” 

“Oh yes, easily.” 

“The rest you will leave in our hands.” 

‘But what will you do?” 

‘‘We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall in- 
vestigate the cause of this noise which has disturbed you.” 

“‘T believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up 
your mind,” said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my com- 
panion’s sleeve. 

“Perhaps I have.” 

“Then for pity’s sake tell me what was the cause of my 
sister’s death.” 

‘“‘T should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak.” 

“You can at least tell me whether my own thought is cor- 
rect, and if she died from some sudden fright.” 

“No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably 
some more tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must 


9?” 


*** GOOD-BYE, AND BE BRAVE 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND’ 197 


leave you, for if Dr. Roylott returned and saw us, our journey 
would be in vain. Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do © 
what I have told you, you may rest assured that we shall soon 
drive away the dangers that threaten you. 

Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bed- 
room and sitting-room at the ‘Crown Inn.” They were on 
the upper floor, and from our window we could command a 
view of the avenue gate, and of the inhabited wing of Stoke 
Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby Roy- 
lott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little fig- 
ure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some slight 
difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard the 
hoarse roar of the doctor’s voice, and saw the fury with which 
he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a 
few minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the 
trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. 

“Do you know, Watson,” said Holmes, as we sat together 
in the gathering darkness, “I have really some scruples as to 
taking you to-night. There is a distinct element of danger.” 

“Can I be of assistance ?”’ 

“Your presence might be invaluable.” 

“Then I shall certainly come.” 

“Tt is very kind of you.” 

“You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in 
these rooms than was visible to me.” 

“No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. 
I imagine that you saw all that I did.” 

“T saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what 
purpose that could answer I confess is more than I can 
imagine.” ae 

* You saw the ventilator, too ?” 

“Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing 
to have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small 
that a rat could hardly pass through.” 

“T knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we 
came to Stoke Moran.” 


198 "ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ~ 


“My dear Holmes!” 

“Oh yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said 
that her sister could smell Dr. Roylott’s cigar. ‘Now, of course 
that suggested at once that there must be a communication 
between the two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it 
would have been remarked upon at the coroner’s inquiry. I 
deduced a ventilator.” 

“ But what harm can there be in that ?” 

“ Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A 
ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who’ elie in 
the bed dies. Does not that strike baie ? : 

“T cannot as yet see any connection.’ 

“Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bedi 45 

és No. 9 

“Tt was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed 
fastened like that before ?” 

“‘T cannot say that I have.” 

“The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in 
the same relative position to the ventilator and to the ropeé— 
for so we may call it, since it was clearly never meant for a 
bell-pull.”’ 3 

“Holmes,” I cried, “I seem to see dimly what you are 
hinting at. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle 
and horrible crime.’ 

“Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor 
does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has nerve 
and he has knowledge. Palmer and Pritchard were among 
the heads of their profession. ‘This man strikes even deeper, 
but I think, Watson, that we shall be able to strike deeper 
still. But we shall have horrors enough before the night is 
over ; for goodness’ sake let us have a quiet pipe, and turn 
our minds for a few hours to something more cheerful.” 


About nine o’clock the light among the trees was extin- 
guished, and all was dark in the direction of the Manor 
House. ‘Two hours passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 199 


just at the stroke of eleven, a single bright light shone out 
right in front of us. 

“That is our signal,” said Holmes, springing to his feet; 
“it comes from the middle window.” 

As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the land- 
lord, explaining that we were going on a late visit to an ac- 
quaintance, and that it was possible that we might spend the 
night there. A moment later we were out on the dark road, 
a chill wind blowing in our faces, and one yellow light twin- 
kling in front of us through the gloom to guide us on our som- 
bre errand. 

There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for unre- 
paired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way 
among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were 
about to enter through the window, when out from a clump 
of laurel bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous 
and distorted child, who threw itself upon the grass with 
writhing limbs, and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the 
darkness. 

“My God!” I whispered ; “did you see it ?” 

Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand 
closed like a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he 
broke into a low laugh, and put his lips to my ear. 

“Tt is a nice household,” he murmured. “That is the 
baboon.” 7 ; 

I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. 
There was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our 
shoulders at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my 
mind when, after following Holmes’s example and slipping off 
my shoes, I found myself inside the bedroom. My compan- 
ion noiselessly closed the shutters, moved the lamp onto the 
table, and cast his eyes round the room. All was as we had 
seen it in the daytime. Then creeping up to me and mak- 
ing a trumpet of his hand, he whispered into my ear again so 
gently that it was all that I could do to distinguish the words: 

“The least sound would be fatal to our plans.” 


200 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


I nodded to show that I had heard. 

“We must sit without light. He would see it through the 
ventilator. 

I nodded again. 

“Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. 
Have your pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit 
on the side of the bed, and you in that chair.” 

I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. 

Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he 
placed upon the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of 
matches and the stump of a candle. Then he turned down 
the lamp, and we were left in darkness. 

How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not 
hear a sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I 
knew that my companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of 
me, in the same state of nervous tension in which I was my- 
self. The shutters cut off the least ray of light, and we 
waited in absolute darkness. From outside came the occa- 
sional cry of a night-bird, and once at our very window a long 
drawn cat-like whine, which told us that the cheetah was in-— 
deed at liberty. Far away we could hear the deep tones of 
the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of an hour. 
How long they seemed; those quarters! Twelve struck, and 
one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for 
for whatever might befall. | 

Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in 
the direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, 
but was succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heat- 
ed metal. Some one in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. 
I heard a gentle sound of movement, and then all was silent 
once more, though the smell grew stronger. For half an hour 
I sat with straining ears. Then suddenly another sound be- 
came audible—a very gentle, soothing sound, like that of a 
small jet of steam escaping continually from a kettle. The 
instant that we heard it, Holmes sprang from the bed, struck 
a match, and lashed furiously with his cane at the bell-pull. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 201 


“ You see it, Watson?” he yelled. ‘“‘ You see it ?” 

But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck 
the light I heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare 
flashing into my weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell 
what it was at which my friend lashed so savagely. I could, 
however, see that his face was deadly pale, and filled with 
horror and loathing. 

He had ceased to strike, and was gazing up at the venti- 
lator, when suddenly there broke from the silence of the night 
the most horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It 
swelled up louder and lotder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear 
and anger all mingled in the one dreadful shriek. They say 
that away down in the village, and even in the distant parson- 
age, that cry raised the sleepers from their beds. It struck 
cold to our hearts, and I stood gazing at Holmes, and he at 
me, until the last echoes of it had died away into the silence 
from which it rose. 

“What can it mean ?” I gasped. 

“Tt means that it is all over,” Holmes answered. ‘“ And 
perhaps, after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we 
will enter Dr. Roylott’s room.” 

With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down 
the corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without 
any reply from within. Then he turned the handle and en- 
tered, I at his heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. 

It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table 
stood a dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a 
brilliant beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which 
was ajar. Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. 
Grimesby Roylott, clad in a long gray dressing-gown, his bare 
ankles protruding beneath, and his feet thrust into red heel- 
less Turkish slippers. Across his lap lay the short stock with 
the long lash which we had noticed during the day. His chin 
was cocked upward and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful, 
rigid stare at the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he 
had a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles, which 


202 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


seemed to be bound tightly round his head. As we entered 
he made neither sound nor.motion. 

“The band! the speckled band !” whispered Holmes. 

I took a step forward. In an instant his strange head-gear 
began to move, and there reared itself from among his hair 
the squat diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loath- 
some serpent. 

“It is a swamp adder!” cried Holmes; “the deadliest 
snake in India. He has died within ten seconds of being 
bitten. Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and 
the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another. Let 
us thrust this creature back into its den, and we can then re- 
move Miss Stoner to some place of shelter, and let the county 
police know what has happened.” 

As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead 
man’s lap, and throwing the noose round the reptile’s neck, he 
drew it from its horrid perch, and carrying it at arm’s length, 
threw it into the iron safe, which he closed upon it. 


Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roy- 
lott, of Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should pro- 
long a narrative which has already run to too great a length, 
by telling how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how 
we conveyed her by the morning train to the care of her good 
aunt at Harrow, of how the slow process of official inquiry 
came to the conclusion that the doctor met his fate while in- 
discreetly playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I 
had yet to learn of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes 
as we travelled back next day. 

“T had,” said he, ‘come to an entirely erroneous conclusion, 
which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to 
reason from insufficient data. The presence of the gypsies, 
and the use of the word ‘ band,’ which was used by the poor 
girl, no doubt to explain the appearance which she had caught 
a hurried glimpse of by the light of her match, were sufficient 
to put me upon an entirely wrong scent. I can only claim 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 203 


the merit that I instantly reconsidered my position’ when, 
however, it became clear to me that whatever danger threat- 
ened an occupant of the room could not come either from the 
window or the door. My attention was speedily drawn, as I 
have already remarked to you, to this ventilator, and to the 
bell-rope which hung down to the bed. ‘The discovery that 
this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to the floor, 
instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was there as 
bridge for‘something passing through the hole, and coming to 
the bed. . The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, and 
when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was 
-furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I 
was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form 
of poison which could not possibly be discovered by any 
chemical test was just such a one as would occur to a clever 
-and ruthless man who had had an Eastern training. The 
rapidity with which such a poison would take effect would 
also, from his point of view, be an advantage. It would be a 
sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could distinguish the two lit- 
tle dark punctures which would show where the poison fangs 
had done their work. Then I thought of the whistle. Of 
course he must recall the snake before the morning light re- 
vealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by the 
use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when sum- 
moned. He would put it through this ventilator at the hour 
that he thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl 
down the rope and land on the bed. It might or might not 
bite the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a 
week, but sooner or later she must fall a victim. 

“I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered 
his room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had 
been in the habit of standing on it, which of course would be 
necessary in order that he should reach the ventilator. The 
sight of the safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whip- 
cord were enough to finally dispel any doubts which may 
have remained. The metallic clang heard by Miss Stoner 


\ 


204 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


was obviously caused by her step-father hastily closing the door 
of his safe upon its terrible occupant. Having once made up 
my mind, you know the steps which I took in order to put the 
matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss, as I have no 
doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the light and at- 
tacked it.” 

“ With the result of driving it through the ventilator.” 

“And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its 
master at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane 
came home, and roused its snakish temper, so that it flew 
upon the first person it saw. In this way I am no doubt in- 
directly responsible for Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s death, and I 
cannot say that it is likely to weigh very heavily upon my con- 
science.” 


Adventure TX 
THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 


yA F all the problems which have been submitted to 
>) my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes for solution dur- 
ing the years of our intimacy, there were only 
two which I was the means of introducing to his 
notice—that of Mr. Hatherley’s thumb, and that of Colonel 
Warburton’s madness. Of these the latter may have afforded 
a finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other 
was so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details, 
that it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, 
even if it gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive 
methods of reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable 
results. The story has, I believe, been told more than once 
in the newspapers, but, like all such narratives, its effect is 
much less striking when set forth en d/oc in a single half-col- 
umn of print than when the facts slowly evolve before your 
own eyes, and the mystery clears gradually away as each new 
discovery furnishes a step which leads on to the complete 
truth. At the time the circumstances made a deep impres- 
sion upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly served 
to weaken the effect. 

It was in the summer of ’89, not long after my marriage, 
that the events occurred which I am now about to summarize. 
I had returned to civil practice, and had finally abandoned 
Holmes in his Baker Street rooms, although I continually 
visited him, and occasionally even persuaded him to forego 
his Bohemian habits so far as to come and visit us. My prac- 
tice had steadily increased, and as I happened to live at no 


206 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


very great distance from Paddington Station, I got a few 
patients from among the officials. One of these, whom I 
had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was never 
weary of advertising my virtues, and of endeavoring to 
send me on every sufferer over whom he might have any in- 
fluence. 3 

One morning, at a little before seven o’clock, I was awak- 
ened by the maid tapping at the door, to announce that two 
men had come from Paddington, and were waiting in the con- 
sulting-room. I dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience 
that railway cases were seldom trivial, and hastened down- 
stairs. As I descended, my old ally, the guard, came out of 
the room and closed the door tightly behind him. 

“T’ve got him here,” he whispered, jerking his thumb over 
his shoulder; “he’s all right.” 

“What is it, then?” I asked, for his manner suggested that 
it was some strange creature which he had caged up in my 
room. ‘¢ 
“Tt’s a new patient,” he whispered. “I thought I’d bring 
him round myself ; then he couldn’t slip away. There he is, 
all safe and sound. I must go now, doctor; I have my doo- 
ties, just the same as you.” And off he went, this trusty 
tout, without even giving me time to thank him. 

I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seat- 
ed by the table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather 
tweed, with a soft cloth cap, which he had laid down upon 
my books. Round one of his hands he had a handkerchief 
wrapped, which was mottled all over with blood-stains. He 
was young, not more than five-and-twenty, I should say, with 
a strong, masculine face; but he was exceedingly pale, and 
gave me the impression of a man who was suffering from 
some strong agitation, which it took all his strength of mind 
to control. : | 

‘IT am sorry to knock you up so early, doctor,” said he, 
“but I have had a very serious accident during the night. I 
came in by train this morning, and on inquiring at Padding- 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 207 


ton as to where I might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very 
kindly escorted me here. I gave the maid a card, but i see 
that she has left it upon the side-table.”’ 

I took it up and glanced at it. “Mr. Victor Hatheriey, hy- 
draulic engineer, 16a, Victoria Street (3d floor).” That was 
the name, style, and abode of mymorning visitor. “I regret 
that I have kept you waiting,” said I, sitting down in my libra- 
ry-chair. “You are fresh from a night journey, I understand, 
which is in itself a monotonous occupation.” 

“Oh, my night could not be called monotonous,” said he, 
and laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing 
‘note, leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my 
medical instincts rose up against that laugh. 

“Stop it!’ I cried; “ pull yourself together!” and I poured 
out some water from a caraffe. 

It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hys- 
terical outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some 
great crisis is over and gone. Presently he came to himself 
once more, very weary and blushing hotly. 

“T have been making a fool of myself,” he gasped. 

“Not at all. Drink this.” I dashed some brandy into the 
water, and the color began to come back to his bloodless 
cheeks. 

“That’s better!” said he. ‘‘ And now, doctor, perhaps you 
would kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where 
my thumb used to be.”’ 

He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It 
gave even my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There 
were four protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface 
where the thumb should have been. It had been hacked or 
torn right out from the roots. 

“Good heavens!” I cried, “this is a terrible injury. It 
must have bled considerably.” 

“Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that 
I must have been senseless for a long time. When I came 
to I found that it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my 


208 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


handkerchief very tightly round the wrist, and braced it up 
with a twig.” 

“Excellent! You should have been a surgeon.” 

“Tt is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within 
my own province.” “ 

“This has been done,” said I, examining the wound, “by 
a very heavy and sharp instrument.” 

“A thing like a cleaver,” said he. 

“An accident, I presume ?” 

‘“‘ By no means.” 

“What! a murderous attack ?” 

“Very murderous indeed.” 

“Vou horrify me.” 

I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally cov- 
ered it over with cotton wadding and carbolized bandages. 
He lay back without wincing, though he bit his lip from time 
to time. 

‘“* How is that?” I asked, when I had finished. 

“Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel 
a new man. I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to 
go through.” 

“Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evi- 
dently trying to your nerves.” 

“Oh no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the po- 
lice ; but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing 
evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they 
believed my statement ; for it is a very extraordinary one, and 
I have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; 
and, even if they believe me, the clews which I can give them 
are so vague that it is a question whether justice will be 
done.” 

“Ha!” cried I, “if it is anything in the nature of a prob- 
lem which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recom- 
mend you to come to my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes before 
you go to the official police.” 

“Oh, I have heard of that fellow,” answered my visitor, 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB 209 


“and I should be very glad if he would take the matter up, 
though of course I must use the official police as well. Would 
you give me an introduction to him ?” 

“T’ll do better. I'll take you round to him myself.” 

‘“‘T should be immensely obliged to you.” 

“We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time 
to have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?” 
“Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story.” 

“Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you 
in an instant.” I rushed up-stairs, explained the matter short- 
ly to my wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driv- 
. ing with my new acquaintance to Baker Street. 

Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his 
sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column 
of Zhe Times, and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which 
was composed of all the plugs and dottels left from his smokes 
of the day before, all carefully dried and collected on the cor- » 
ner of the mantel-piece. He received us in his quietly genial 
fashion, ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a 
hearty meal. When it was concluded he settled our new ac- 
quaintance upon the sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, 
and laid a glass of brandy-and-water within his reach. 

“It is easy to see that your experience has been no com- 
mon one, Mr. Hatherley,” said he. “Pray, lie down there 
and make yourself absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, 
but stop when you are tired, and keep i your strength with 
a little stimulant.” 

“Thank you,” said my patient, “but I have felt another 
man since the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your 
breakfast has completed the cure. I shall take up as little of 
your valuable time as possible, so I shall start at once upon 
my peculiar experiences.” 

Holmes sat in his big arm-chair with the weary, heavy-lid- 
ded expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while 
I sat opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange 
story which our visitor detailed to us. 

14 


210 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“You must know,” said he, “that I am an orphan and a 
bachelor, residing alone in lodgings in London. By profes- 
sion I am an hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable 
experience of my work during the seven years that I was 
apprenticed to Venner & Matheson, the well-known firm, of 
Greenwich. ‘Two years ago, having served my time, and hav- 
ing also come into a fair sum of money through my poor 
father’s death, I determined to start in business for myself, 
and took professional chambers in Victoria Street. 

“‘T suppose that every one finds his first independent start 
in business a dreary experience. To me it has been excep- 
tionally so. During two years I have had three consultations 
and one small job, and that is absolutely all that my profes- 
sion has brought me. My gross takings amount to £27 tos. 
Every day, from nine in the morning until four in the after- 
noon, I waited in my little den, until at last my heart began 
to sink, and I came to believe that I should never have any 
practice at all. 

“ Vesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the 
office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting 
who wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, 
too, with the name of ‘Colonel Lysander Stark’ engraved 
upon it. Close at his heels came the colonel himself, a man 
rather over the middle size, but of an exceeding thinness. I 
do not think that I have ever seen so thin a man. His whole 
face sharpened away into nose and chin, and the skin of his 
cheeks was drawn quite tense over his outstanding bones. Yet 
this emaciation seemed to be his natural habit, and due to no 
disease, for his eye was bright, his step brisk, and his bearing 
assured. He was plainly but neatly dressed, and his age, I 
should judge, would be nearer forty than thirty. 

“ «Mr. Hatherley?’ said he, with something of a German 
accent. ‘You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, 
as being a man who is not only proficient in his profession, 
but is also discreet and capable of preserving a secret.’ | 

“T bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 211 


such an address. ‘May I ask who it was who gave me so 
good a character ?’ 

““* Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that 
just at this moment. I have it from the same source that 
you are both an orphan and a bachelor, and are residing 
alone in London.’ 

“«That is quite correct,’ I answered, ‘but you will excuse 
me if I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my pro- 
fessional qualifications. I understood that it was on a profes- 
sional matter that you wished to speak to me?’ 

“* Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really 
to the point. I have a professional commission for you, but 
absolute secrecy is quite essential—adso/ute secrecy, you un- 
derstand, and of course we may expect that more from a man 
who is alone than from one who lives in the bosom of his 
family.’ 

““<Tf I promise to keep a secret,’ said I, ‘you may abso- 
lutely depend upon my doing so.’ 

“He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to 
me that I had never seen so suspicious and questioning an 
eye. 

“Do you promise, then ?’ said he, at last. 

“Ves, I promise.’ 

“¢ Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? 
No reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing ?’ 

“*T have already given you my word.’ 

““* Very good.’ He suddenly sprang up, and darting like 
lightning across the room, he flung open the door. The pas- 
sage outside was empty. 

“*That’s all right,’ said he, coming back. ‘I know that clerks 
are sometimes curious as to their master’s affairs. Now we 
can talk in safety.’ He drew up his chair very close to mine, 
and began to stare at me again with the same questioning and 
thoughtful look. 

“A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had 
begun to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless 


212 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


man. Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain 
me from showing my impatience. : 

“*T beg that you will state your business, sir,’ said I; ‘my 
time is of value.’ Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, 
but the words came to my lips. 

“*How would fifty guineas for a night’s work suit you?’ 
he asked. 

““* Most admirably.’ 

“‘¢T say a night’s work, but an hour’s would be nearer the 
mark. I simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamp- 
ing machine which has got out of gear. If you show us what 
is wrong we shall soon set it right ourselves. What do you 
think of such a commission as that ?” 

“The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.’ 

“*Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by 
the last train.’ 

“Where to ?’ 

“¢To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the 
borders of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. 
There is a train from Paddington which would ies you 
there at about 11.15. 

“Very good.’ 

““*T shall come down in a carriage to meet you.’ 

‘“‘¢ There is a drive, then ?’ 

“ “Ves, our little place is quite out.in the country. It isa 
good seven miles from Eyford Station.’ 

“«Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I sup- 
pose there would be no chance of a train back. I should be 
compelled to stop the night.’ 

“Ves, we could easily give you a shake-down.’ 

“ «That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more 
convenient hour ?” 

‘““*We have judged it best that you should come late. It is 
to recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying 
to you, a young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an 
opinion from the very heads of your profession. Still, of 


THE ADVENTURE OF-THE ENGINEER'S THUMB 213 


course, if you would like to draw out of the business, there is 
plenty of time to do so.’ 

“T thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they 
would be to me. ‘Not at all,’ said I, ‘I shall be very happy 
to accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, how- 
ever, to understand a little more clearly what it is that you 
wish me to do.’ 

“* Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy 
which we have exacted from you should have aroused your 
curiosity. I have no wish to commit you to anything without 
your having it all laid before you. I suppose that we are 
absolutely safe from eavesdroppers ?” 

“ * Entirely ? 

“«Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware 
that fuller’s-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only 
found in one or two places in England ? 

“¢T have heard so.’ 

«Some little time ago I bought a small place—a very small 
place—within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough 
to discover that there was a deposit of fuller’s-earth in one of 
my fields. On examining it, however, I found that this de- 
posit was a comparatively small one, and that it formed a link 
between two very much larger ones upon the right and left— 
both of them, however, in the grounds of my neighbors. These 
good people were absolutely ignorant that their land contained 
that which was quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, 
it was to my interest to buy their land before they discovered 
its true value ; but, unfortunately, I had no capital by which 
I could do this. I took a few of my friends into the secret, 
however, and they suggested that we should quietly and se- 
cretly work our own little deposit, and that in this way we 
should earn the money which would enable us to buy the 
neighboring fields. ‘This we have now been doing for some 
time, and in order to help us in our operations we erected an 
hydraulic press. This press, as I have already explained, has 
got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the subject. 


214 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it once 
became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our 
little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts 
came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these 
fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made 
you promise me that you will not tell a human being that you 
are going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain ?’ 

“<*T quite follow you,’ said I. ‘The only point which I 
could. not quite understand, was what use you could make of 
an hydraulic press in excavating fuller’s-earth, which, as I un- 
derstand, is dug out like gravel from a pit.’ 

““* Ah?!’ said he, carelessly, ‘we have our own process. We 
compress the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without 
revealing what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have 
taken you fully into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I 
have shown you how I trust you.’ He rose as he spoke. ‘I 
shall expect you, then, at Eyford at 11.15.’ 

“**T shall certainly be there.’ | 

“¢ And not a word to a soul.’ He looked at me with a last, 
long, questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, 
dank grasp, he hurried from the room. 

“Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was 
very much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden 
commission which had been intrusted to me. On the one 
hand, of course, I was glad, for the fee was at least tenfold 
what I should have asked had I set a price upon my own 
services, and it was possible that this order might lead to 
other ones. On the other hand, the face and manner of my 
patron had made an unpleasant impression upon me, and I 
could not think that his explanation of the fuller’s-earth was 
sufficient to explain the necessity for my coming at midnight, 
and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell any one of my er- 
rand. However, I threw all fears to. the winds, ate a hearty 
supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having obeyed 
to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. 

“ At Reading I had to change not only my carriage, but my 


“NOT A WORD TO A SOUL’” 


~ 
as 
"2 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB ~~ 215 


station. However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, 
and I reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I 
was the only passenger who got out there, and there was no 
one upon the platform save a single sleepy porter with a lan- 
tern. As I passed out through the wicket gate, however, I 
found my acquaintance of the morning waiting in the shadow 
upon the other side. Without a word he grasped my arm and 
hurried me into a carriage, the door of which was standing 
open. He drew up the windows on either side, tapped on the 
wood-work, and away we went as fast as the horse could go.” 

“One horse ?” interjected Holmes. 

“Yes, only one.” 

“Did you observe the. color ?” 

“Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into 
the carriage. It was a chestnut.” 

“ Tired-looking or fresh ?” 

“Oh, fresh and glossy.” 

“Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray 
continue your most interesting statement.” 

“* Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. 
Colonel Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, 
but I should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and 
from the time that we took, that it must have been nearer 
twelve. He sat at my side in silence all the time, and I was 
aware, more than once when I glanced in his direction, that 
he was looking at me with great intensity. The country roads 
seem to be not very good in that part of the world, for we 
lurched and jolted terribly. I tried to look out of the win- 
dows to see something of where we were, but they were made 
of frosted glass, and I could make out nothing save the occa- 
sional bright blurr of a passing light. Now and then I haz- 
arded some remark to break the monotony of the journey, 
but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the con- 
versation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the 
road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel- 
drive, and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander 


216 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


Stark sprang out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me 
swiftly into a porch which gaped in front of us. We stepped, 
as it were, right out of the carriage and into the hall, so 
that I failed to catch the most fleeting glance of the front of 
the house. The instant that I had crossed the threshold the 
door slammed heavily behind us, and I heard faintly the rat- 
tle of the wheels as the carriage drove away. 

“Tt was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fum- 
bled about looking for matches, and muttering under his 
breath. Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the 
passage, and a long, golden bar of light shot out in our direc- 
tion. It grew broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in 
her hand, which she held above her head, pushing her face 
forward and peering at us. I could see that she was pretty, 
and from the gloss with which the light shone upon her dark. 
dress I knew that it was a rich material. She spoke a few 
words in a foreign tongue in a tone as though asking a ques- 
tion, and when my companion answered in a gruff monosylla- 
ble she gave such a start that the lamp nearly fell from her 
hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered something in 
her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room from whence 
she had come, he walked towards me again with the lamp in 
his hand. 

**¢ Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room 
for a few minutes,’ said he, throwing open another door. It 
was a quiet, little, plainly-furnished room, with a round table 
in the centre, on which several German books were scattered. 
Colonel Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium 
beside the door. ‘I shall not keep you waiting an instant,’ 
said he, and vanished into the darkness. 

“‘T glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my 
ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treat- 
ises on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I 
walked across to the window, hoping that I might catch some 
glimpse of the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, 
was folded across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB 217 


There was an old clock ticking loudly somewhere in the pas- 
sage, but otherwise everything was deadly still. A vague 
feeling of uneasiness began to steal over me. Who were 
these German people, and what were they doing, living in this 
strange, out-of-the-way place? And where was the place? I 
was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was all I knew, but 
whether north, south, east, or west I had no idea. For that 
matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, were within 
that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, after all. 
Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, that we 
were in the country. I paced up and down the room, hum- 
ming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits, and feel- 
ing that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. 

.“ Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of 
the utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. 
The woman was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the 
hall behind her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon 
her eager and beautiful face. I could see ata glance that she 
was sick with fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. 
She held up one shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and 
she shot a few whispered words of broken: English at me, her 
eyes glancing back, like those of a sissies horse, into the 
gloom behind her. 

“¢T would go,’ said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to 
speak calmly; ‘I would go. I should not stay here. There 
is no good for you to do.’ 

“*But, madam,’ said I, ‘I have not yet done what I came 
for. I cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.’ 

“¢Tt is not worth your while to wait,’ she went on. ‘You 
can pass through the door; no one hinders.’ And then, see- 
ing that I smiled and shook my head, she suddenly threw 
aside her constraint and made a step forward, with her hands 
wrung together. ‘For the love of Heaven!’ she whispered, 
‘ get away from here before it is too late !’ 

“ But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more 
ready to engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in 


218 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


the way. I thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome 
journey, and of the unpleasant night which seemed to be be- 
fore me. Was it all to go for nothing? Why should I slink 
away without having carried out my commission, and without 
the payment which was my due? This woman might, for all 
I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout bearing, therefore, 
though her manner had shaken me more than I cared to con- 
fess, I still shook my head, and declared my intention of re- 
maining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties, 
when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several 
footsteps were heard upon the stairs. She listened for an in- 
stant, threw up her hands with a despairing gesture, and van- 
ished as suddenly and as noiselessly as she had come. 

“The new-comers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short, 
thick man with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases 
of his double chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Fer- 
guson. 

“«This is my secretary and manager,’ said the colonel. 
‘ By-the-way, I was under the impression that I left this door 
shut just now. I fear that you have felt the draught.’ 

“¢ Qn the contrary,’ said I; ‘I opened the door myself, be- 
cause I felt the room to be a little close.’ 

‘He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. ‘Perhaps we 
had better proceed to business, then,’ said he. ‘Mr. Fer- 
guson and I will take you up to see the machine.’ 

“¢T had better put my hat on, I suppose.’ 

“Oh no, it is in the house.’ 

“What, you dig fuller’s-earth in the house ?’ 

- «No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never 
mind that. All we wish you to do is to examine the ma- 
chine, and-to let us know what is wrong with it.’ 

“We went up-stairs together, the colonel first with the 
lamp, the fat manager, and I. behind him. It was a labyrinth 
of an old house, with corridors, passages, narrow winding 
staircases, and little low doors, the thresholds of which were 
hollowed out by the generations who had crossed them. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB 219 


There were no carpets and no signs of any furniture above 
the ground floor, while the plaster was peeling off the walls, 
and the damp was breaking through in green, unhealthy 
blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an air as possi- 
ble, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the lady, even 
though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon my 
‘two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and 
silent man, but I could see from the little that he said that 
he was at least a fellow-countryman. 

“Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, 
which he unlocked. Within was a small, square toom, in 
which the three of us could hardly get at one time. Fer- 
guson remained outside, and the colonel ushered me in. 

“We are now,’ said he, ‘actually within the hydraulic 
press, and it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us 
if any one were to turn it on. The ceiling of this small cham- 
ber is really the end of the descending piston, and it comes 
down with the force of many tons upon this metal floor. 
There are small lateral columns of water outside which re- 
ceive the force, and which transmit and multiply it in the 
manner which is familiar to you. The machine goes readily 
enough, but there is some stiffness in the working of it, and 
it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will have the 
goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set it 
right.’ 

“T took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine 
very thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable 
of exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, 
however, and pressed down the levers which controlled it, I 
knew at once by the whishing sound that there was a slight 
leakage, which allowed a regurgitation of water through one 
of the side cylinders. An examination showed that one of 
the india-rubber bands which was round the head of a driving- 
rod had shrunk so as not quite to fill the socket along which 
it worked. This was clearly the cause of the loss of power, 
and I pointed it out to my companions, who followed my 


220 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


remarks very carefully, and asked several practical questions 
as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I had 
made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the 
machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curios- 
ity. It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller’s- 
earth was the merest fabication, for it would be absurd to sup- 
pose that so powerful an engine could be designed for so in- 
adequate a purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor 
consisted of a large iron trough, and when I came to examine 
it I could see a crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had 
stooped and was scraping at this to see exactly what it was, 
when I heard a muttered exclamation in German, and saw the 
cadaverous face of the colonel looking down at me. 

““* What are you doing there?’ he asked. 

“T felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story 
as that which he had told me. ‘I was admiring your fuller’s- 
earth,’ said I; I think that I should be better able to advise 
you as to your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was 
for which it was used.’ 

“The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rash- 
ness of my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light 
sprang up in his gray eyes. 

““* Very well,’ said he, ‘you shall know all about the ma- 
chine.’ He took a step backward, slammed the little door, 
and turned the key in the lock. I rushed towards it and 
pulled at the handle, but it was quite secure, and did not give 
in the least to my kicks and shoves. ‘Hello!’ I yelled. 
‘Hello! Colonel! Let me out!’ 

“ And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which 
sent my heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers 
and the swish of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine 
at work. The lamp still stood upon the floor where I had 
placed it when examining the trough. By its light I saw that 
the black ceiling was coming down upon me, slowly, jerkily, 
but, as none knew better than myself, with a force which must 
within a minute grind me to a shapeless pulp. I threw my- 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 221 


self, screaming, against the door, and dragged with my nails 
at the lock. I implored the colonel to let me out, but the 
remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my cries. The 
ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with my 
hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it 
flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would 
depend very much upon the position in which I met it. If I 
lay on my face the weight would come upon my spine, and I 
shuddered to think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other 
way, perhaps ; and yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at - 
that deadly black shadow wavering down upon me? Already 
I was unable to stand erect, when my eye caught something 
which brought a gush of hope back to my heart. 

“T have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, 
the walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance 
around, I saw a thin line of yellow light between two of the 
boards, which broadened and broadened as a small panel was 
pushed backward. Foran instant I could hardly believe that 
here was indeed a door which led away from death. The 
next instant I threw myself through, and lay half-fainting upon 
the other side. The panel had closed again behind me, but 
the crash of the lamp, and a few moments afterwards the clang 
of the two slabs of metal, told me how narrow had been my 
escape. 

“T was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, 
and I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow cor- 
ridor, while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her 
left hand, while she held a candle in her right. It was the 
same good friend whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. 

“*Come! come!’ she cried, breathlessly. ‘They will be 
here in a moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, 
do not waste the so-precious time, but come!’ 

“This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I stag- 
gered to my feet and ran with her along the corridor and 
down a winding stair. The latter led to another broad pas- 
sage, and, just as we reached it, we heard the sound of running 


222 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


feet and the shouting of two voices, one answering the other, 
from the floor on which we were and from the one beneath. 
My guide stopped and looked about her like one who is at 
her wits’ end. Then she threw open a door which led into a 
bedroom, through the window of which the moon was shining 
brightly. 

““Tt is your only chance,’ said she. ‘It is high, but it may 
be that you can jump it.’ 

“‘As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end 
_ of the passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander 
Stark rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a 
weapon like a butcher’s cleaver in the other. I rushed across 
the bedroom, flung open the window, and looked out. How 
quiet and sweet and wholesome the garden looked in the 
moonlight, and it could not be more than thirty feet down. I 
clambered out upon the sill, but I hesitated to jump until I 
should have heard what passed between my savior and the | 
ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, then at any 
risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. The 
thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was 
at the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms 
round him and tried to hold him back. 

“<¢ Fritz! Fritz!’ she cried, in English, ‘remember your 
promise after the last time. You said it should not be again. 
He will be silent! Oh, he will be silent!’ 

“*Vou are mad, Elise!’ he shouted, struggling to break 
away from her. ‘You will be the ruin of us. He has seen 
too much. Let me pass, I say!’ He dashed her to one side, 
and, rushing to the window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. 
I had let myself go, and was hanging by the hands to the sill, 
when his blow fell. I was conscious of a dull pain, my grip 
loosened, and I fell into the garden below. 

“I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself 
up and rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, 
for I understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. 
Suddenly, however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 223 


came over me. I glanced down at my hand, which was throb- 
bing painfully, and then, for the first time, saw that my thumb 
had been cut off and that the blood was pouring from my 
wound. I endeavored to tie my handkerchief round it, but 
there came a sudden buzzing in my ears, and next moment I 
fell in a dead faint among the rose-bushes. 

“How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must 
have been a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a 
bright morning was breaking when I came to myself. My 
clothes were all sodden with dew, and my coat-sleeve was 
drenched with blood from my wounded thumb. The smart- 
ing of it recalled in an instant all the particulars of my night’s 
adventure, and I sprang to my feet with the feeling that I 
might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But, to my aston- 
ishment, when I came to look round me, neither house nor 
garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the 
hedge close by the high-road, and just a little lower down was 
a long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be 
the very station at which I had arrived upon the previous 
night. Were it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all 
that had passed during those dreadful hours might have been 
an evil dream. 

“ Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the 
morning train. There would be one to Reading in less than 
an hour. The same porter was on duty, I found, as had been 
there when I arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever 
heard of Colonel Lysander Stark. The name was strange to 
him. Had he observed a carriage the night before waiting 
for me? No, he had not. Was there a police-station any- 
where near? ‘There was one about three miles off. 

“It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I de- 
termined to wait until I got back to town before telling my 
story to the police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so 
I went first to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor 
was kind enough to bring me along here. I put the case into 
your hands, and shall do exactly what you advise.” 


224 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


We both sat in silence for some little time after, listening to 
this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled 
down from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace 
books in which he placed his cuttings. 

“Here is an advertisement which will interest you,” said 
he. ‘It appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen 
to this: ‘ Lost, on the gth inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged 
twenty-six, an hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten 
o’clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was 
dressed in,’ etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time 
that the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I 
fancy.” 

‘‘Good heavens !” cried my patient. ‘Then that explains 
what the girl said.” 

“Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a 
cool and desperate man, who was absolutely determined 
that nothing should stand in the way of his little game, like 
those out-and-out pirates who will leave no survivor from a 
captured ship. Well, every moment now is precious, so if 
you feel equal to it, we shall go down to Scotland Yard at 
once as a preliminary to starting for Eyford.” 

Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train 
together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. 
There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspect- 
or Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and my- 
self. Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county 
out upon the seat, and was busy with his compasses drawing 
a circle with Eyford for its centre. 

“There you are,” said he. ‘That circle is drawn at a ra- 
dius of ten miles from the village. The place we want must 
be somewhere near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir.” 

“Tt was an hour’s good drive.” 

*¢And you think that they brought you back all that way 
when you were unconscious ?”. 

“They must have done so. I have a confused memory, 
too, of having been lifted and conveyed somewhere.” 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB 225 


“What I cannot understand,” said I, “is why they should 
have spared you when they found you lying fainting in the 
garden. Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman’s 
entreaties.” 

“T hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable 
face in my life.” 

“Oh, we shall soon clear up all that,” said Bradstreet. 
“Well, I have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at 
what point upon it the folk that we are in search of are to be 
found.” 

“T think I could lay my finger on it,” said Holmes, quietly. 

“Really, now !” cried the inspector, “ you have formed your 
opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I 
say it is south, for the country is more deserted there.” 

“ And I say east,” said my patient. 

“‘T am for west,” remarked the plain-clothes man. ‘“ There 
are several quiet little villages up there.” 

** And I am for north,” said I, ‘because there are no hills 
there, and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage 
go up any.” 

“Come,” cried the inspector, laughing; “it’s a very pretty 
diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. 
Who do you give your casting vote to?” 

“You are all wrong.” 

“ But we can’t a// be.” 

“Oh yes, youcan. This is my point ;” he placed his finger 
in the centre of the circle. ‘This is where we shall find 
them.” 

“ But the twelve-mile drive?” gasped Hatherley. 

“Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say your- 
self that the horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. 
How could it be that if it had gone twelve miles over heavy 
roads ?” 

“ Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough,” observed Bradstreet, 
thoughtfully. ‘Of course there can be no doubt as to the 
nature of this gang.” 

15 


226 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“None at all,” said Holmes. ‘“ They are coiners on a large 
scale, and have used the machine to form the amalgam which 
has taken the place of silver.” 

“We have known for some time that a clever gang was at 
work,” said the inspector. “They have been turning out 
half-crowns by the thousand. We even traced them as far as 
Reading, but could get no farther, for they had covered their 
traces in a way that showed that they were very old hands. 
But now, thanks to this lucky chance, I think that we have 
got them right enough.” 

But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were 
not destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled 
into Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which 
streamed up from behind a small clump of trees in the neigh- 
borhood, and hung like an immense ostrich feather over the 
landscape. 

“A house on fire?” asked Bradstreet, as the train steamed 
off again on its way. 

“Yes, sir!” said the station-master. 

“When did it break out ?” 

“JT hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got 
worse, and the whole place is in a blaze.” 

“Whose house is it ?” 

“Dr. Becher’s.” 

‘Tell me,” broke in the engineer, “is Dr. Becher a German, 
very thin, with a long, sharp nose ?” 

The station-master laughed heartily. “No, sir, Dr. Becher 
is an Englishman, and there isn’t a man in the parish who has 
a better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with 
him, a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he 
looks as if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no 
harm.” 

The station-master had not finished his speech before we 
were all hastening in the direction of the fire. The road 
topped a low hill, and there was a great wide-spread white- 
washed building in front of us, spouting fire at every chink 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB 227 


and window, while in the garden in front three fire-engines 
were vainly striving to keep the flames under. 

“That’s it!’ cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. “There 
is the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. 
That second window is the one that I jumped from.” 

“Well, at least,” said Holmes, “you have had your revenge 
upon them. There can be no question that it was your oil- 
lamp which, when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the 
wooden walls, though no doubt they were too excited in the 
chase after you to observe it at the time. Now keep your 
eyes open in this crowd for your friends of last night, though 
_I very much fear that they are a good hundred miles off by 
now.” 

And Holmes’s fears came to be realized, for from that day 
to this no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful 
woman, the sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Ear- 
ly that morning a peasant-had met a cart containing several 
people and some very bulky boxes driving rapidly in the di- 
rection of Reading, but there all traces of the fugitives disap- 
peared, and even Holmes’s ingenuity failed ever to discover 
the least clew as to their whereabouts. 

_ The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange ar- 
rangements which they had found within, and still more so 
by discovering a newly severed human thumb upon a window- 
sill of the second floor. -About sunset, however, their efforts 
were at last successful, and they subdued the flames, but not 
before the roof had fallen in, and the whole place been reducéd 
to such absolute ruin that, save some twisted cylinders and 
iron piping, not a trace remained of the machinery which had 
cost our unfortunate acquaintance so dearly. Large masses 
of nickel and of tin were discovered stored in an out-house, 
but no coins were to be found, which may have explained the 
presence of those bulky boxes which have been already re- 
ferred to. 

How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the 
garden to the spot where he recovered his senses might have 


228 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


remained forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, 
which told us a very plain tale. He had evidently been car- 
ried down by two persons, one of whom had remarkably small 
feet and the other unusually large ones. On the whole, it was 
most probable that the silent Englishman, being less bold or 
less murderous than his companion, had assisted the woman 
to bear the unconscious man out of the way of danger. 

“Well,” said our engineer ruefully, as we took our seats to 
return once more to London, “it has been a pretty business 
forme! I have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea 
fee, and what have I gained?” 

“Experience,” said Holmes, laughing. “ Indirectly it may 
be of value, you know; you have only to put it into words to 
gain the reputation of being excellent company for the remain- 
der of your existence.” 


Hdventure F 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 


NZ7TOGE. G 


1 


mination, have long ceased to be a subject of in- 
terest in those exalted circles in which the unfor- 

ZISL® tunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have 
eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the 
gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have rea- 
son to believe, however, that the full facts have never been 
revealed to the general public, and as my friend Sherlock 
Holmes had a considerable share in clearing the matter up, 
I feel that no memoir of him would be complete without some 
little sketch of this remarkable episode. 

It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the 
days when I was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker 
Street, that he came home from an afternoon stroll to find a 
letter on the table waiting for him. I had remained in-doors 
all day, for the weather had taken a sudden turn to rain, with 
high autumnal winds, and the jezail bullet which I had brought 
back in one of my limbs as a relic of my Afghan campaign, 
throbbed with dull persistency. With my body in one easy- 
chair and my legs upon another, I had surrounded myself 
with a cloud of newspapers, until at last, saturated with the 
news of the day, I tossed them all aside and lay listless, 
watching the huge crest and monogram upon the envelope 
upon the table, and wondering lazily who my friend’s noble 
correspondent could be. 

“Here is a very fashionable epistle,” I remarked, as he 
entered. “Your morning letters, if I remember right, were 
from a fish-monger and a tide-waiter.” 


230 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of va- 
riety,” he answered, smiling, “and the humbler are usually 
the more interesting. This looks like one of those unwel- 
come social summonses which call upon a man either to be 
bored or to lie.” 

He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. 

“‘Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest after 
all.” 

‘Not social, then ?” 

“‘ No, distinctly professional.” 

“‘ And from a noble client ?” 

“One of the highest in England.” | 

“My dear fellow, I congratulate you.” 

“T assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status 
of my client is a matter of less moment to me than the inter- 
est of his case. It is just possible, however, that that also 
may not be wanting in this new investigation. You have 
been reading the papers diligently of late, have you not?” 

“Tt looks like it,” said I, ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle 
in the corner. ‘I have had nothing else to do.” 

“It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. 
I read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. 
The latter is always instructive. But if you have followed 
recent events so closely you must have read about Lord St. 
Simon and his wedding ?” ; 

“Oh yes, with the deepest interest.” 

“That is well. The letter which I hold in my atid: is 
from Lord St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return 
you must turn over these papers and let me have whatever 
bears upon the matter. ‘This is what he says: 


“¢ My DEAR Mr. SHERLOCK HotmMes,— Lord Backwater 
tells me that I may place implicit reliance upon your judg- 
ment and discretion. I have determined, therefore, to call 
upon you, and to consult you in reference to the very painful 
event which has occurred in connection with my wedding. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 231 


Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is acting already in the mat- 
ter, but he assures me that he sees no objection to your co- 
operation, and that he even thinks that it might be of some 
assistance. I will call at four o’clock in the afternoon, and, 
should you have any other engagement at that time, I hope 
that you will postpone it, as this matter is of paramount im- 
portance. Yours faithfully, St. SIMON.’ 


“It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill 
pen, and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear 
of ink upon the outer side of his right little finger,” remarked 
Holmes, as he folded up the epistle. 

“He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here 
in an hour.” 

“Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear 
upon the subject. Turn over those papers, and arrange the 
extracts in their order of time, while I take a glance as to 
who our client is.’”” He picked a red-covered volume from 
a line of books of reference beside the mantel-piece. ‘“ Here 
he is,” said he, sitting down and flattening it out upon his 
knee. ‘“ Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St. Simon, second 
son of the Duke of Balmoral—Hum! Arms: Azure, three 
caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846. He’s forty- 
one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was Under- 
secretary for the Colonies in a late Administration. The 
Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Af- 
fairs. They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and 
Tudor on the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very 
instructive in all this. I think that I must turn to you, Wat- 
son, for something more solid.” 

“T have very little difficulty in finding what I want,” said 
I, “for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me 
as remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I 
knew that you had an inquiry on hand, and that you disliked 
the intrusion of other matters.” 

“ Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square 


232 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


furniture van. That is quite cleared up now—though, in- 
deed, it was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results 
of your newspaper selections.” 

“Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the 
personal column of Zhe Morning Fost, and dates, as you see, 
some weeks back. ‘A marriage has been arranged,’ it says, 
‘and will, if rumor is correct, very shortly take place, between 
Lord Robert St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, 
and Miss Hatty Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran, 
Esq., of San Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.’ That is all.” 

“Terse and to the point,” remarked Holmes, stretching 
his long, thin legs towards the fire. 

“There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the so- 
ciety papers of the same week. Ah, here it is. ‘There will 
soon be a call for protection in the marriage market, for the 
present free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against 
our home product. One by one the management of the noble 
houses of Great Britain is passing into the hands of our fair 
cousins from across the Atlantic. An important addition has 
been made during the last week to the list of the prizes which 
have been borne away by these charming invaders. Lord 
St. Simon, who has shown himself for over twenty years proof 
against the little god’s arrows, has now definitely announced 
his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty Doran, the fasci- 
nating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss Doran, 
whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much atten- 
tion at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, and _ 
it is currently reported that her dowry will run to considerably 
over the six figures, with expectancies for the future. As it 
is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has been com- 
pelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, and as 
Lord St. Simon has no property of his own, save the small 
estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress 
is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to 
make the easy and common transition from a Republican 
lady to a British peeress.’ ” 


_THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 233 


“ Anything else?” asked Holmes, yawning. 

“Oh yes; plenty. Then there is another note in Zke Morn- 
ing Post to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet 
one, that it would be at St. George’s, Hanover Square, that 
only half a dozen intimate friends would be invited, and that 
the party would return to the furnished house at Lancaster 
Gate which has been taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two 
days later—that is, on Wednesday last—there is a curt an- 
nouncement that the wedding had taken place, and that the 
honey-moon would be passed at Lord Backwater’s place, near 
Petersfield. Those are all the notices which appeared before 
the disappearance of the bride.” 

*‘ Before the what?” asked Holmes, with a start. 

“The vanishing of the lady.” 

‘* When did she vanish, then ?” 

** At the wedding breakfast.” 

“Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; 
quite dramatic, in fact.” 

“Ves; it struck me as being a little out of the common.” 

“They often vanish before the ceremony, and occcasional- 
ly during the honey-moon; but I cannot call to mind anything 
quite so prompt as this. Pray let me have the details.” 

“J warn you that they are very incomplete.” 

“ Perhaps we may make them less so.” 

‘Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of 
a morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It 
is headed, ‘Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wed- 
ding’: 

“<The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown 
into the greatest consternation by the strange and painful 
episodes which have taken place in connection with his wed- 
ding. ‘The ceremony, as shortly announced in the papers of 
yesterday, occurred on the previous morning; but it is only 
now that it has been possible to confirm the strange rumors 
which have been so persistently floating about. In spite of 
the attempts of the friends to hush the matter up, so much 


234 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


public attention has now been drawn to it that no good pur- 
pose can be served by affecting to disregard what is a com- 
mon subject for conversation. 

“The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, 
Hanover Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present 
save the father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess 
of Balmoral, Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace, and Lady Clara 
St. Simon (the younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), 
and Lady Alicia Whittington. The whole party proceeded 
afterwards to the house of Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster 
Gate, where breakfast had been prepared. It appears that 
some little trouble was caused by a woman, whose name has 
not been ascertained, who endeavored to force her way into 
the house after the bridal party, alleging that she had some 
claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a painful and 
prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler and the 
footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house 
before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to break- 
fast with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposi- 
tion, and retired to herroom. Her prolonged absence having 
caused some comment, her father followed her, but learned 
from her maid that she had only come up to her chamber 
for an instant, caught up an ulster and bonnet, and hurried 
down to the passage. One of the footmen declared that he 
had seen a lady leave the house thus apparelled, but had 
refused to credit that it was his mistress, believing her to 
be with the company. On ascertaining that his daughter 
had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with the 
bridegroom, instantly put themselves into communication 
with the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, 
which will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very 
singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, 
nothing had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing 
lady. There are rumors of foul play in the matter, and it is 
said that the police have caused the arrest of the woman who 
had caused the original disturbance, in the belief that, from 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 235 


jealousy or some other motive, she may have been concerned 
in the strange disappearance of the bride.’” 
_ “ And is that all?” 

“Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but 
it is a suggestive one.” 

“ And it is—” 

“That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the dis- 
turbance, has actually been arrested. It appears that she 
was formerly a danseuse at the ‘Allegro,’ and that she has 
known the bridegroom for some years. There are no further 
particulars, and the whole case is in your tags now—so far 
as it has been set forth in the public press.” 

“ And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I 
would not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at 
the bell, Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes 
after four, I have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble 
client. Do not dream of going, Watson, for I very much pre- 
fer having a witness, if only as a check to my own memory.” 

“Lord Robert St. Simon,” announced our page-boy, throw- 
ing open the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, 
cultured face, high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps 
of petulance about the mouth, and with the steady, well-open- 
ed eye of a man whose pleasant lot it had ever been to com- 
mand and to be obeyed. His manner was brisk, and yet his 
general appearance gave an undue impression of age, for he 
had a slight forward stoop and a little bend of the knees as 
he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off his very curly-brim- 
med hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin upon the top.. 
As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of foppishness, 
- with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, yellow 
gloves, patent- leather shoes, and light-colored gaiters. He 
advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to 
right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his 
golden eye-glasses. 

“Good-day, Lord St. Simon,” said Holmes, rising and bow- 
ing. “Pray take the basket-chair. This is my friend and 


236 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


colleague, Dr. Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we 
will talk this matter over.” 

“A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily 
imagine, Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I un- 
derstand that you have already managed several delicate cases 
of this sort, sir, though I presume that they were hardly from 
the same class of society.” 

“No, I am descending.” 

“T beg pardon.” 

“ My last client of the sort was a king.” 

“Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?” 

“The King of Scandinavia.” 

“What! Had he lost his wife?” 

“You can understand,” said Holmes, suavely, “that I ex- 
tend to the affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which 
I promise to you in yours.” 

“Of course! Very right! very right! I’m sure I beg par- 
don. As to my own case, I am ready to give you any infor- 
mation which may assist you in forming an opinion.” 

“Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the 
public prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as 
correct—this article, for example, as to the disappearance of 
the bride.” 

Lord St. Simon glanced over it. ‘“‘ Yes, it is correct, as far 
as it goes.” | 

‘“ But it needs a great deal of supplementing before any one 
could offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my 
facts most directly by questioning you.” 

“Pray do so.” 

“When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran ?” 

‘In San Francisco, a year ago.” 

“You were travelling in the States ?” 

Ves.” 

“Did you become engaged then ?” 

“No.” 

“But you were on a friendly footing ?” 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 237 


“‘T was amused by her society, and she could see that I 
was amused.” 

“ Her father is very rich ?” 

“He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope.” 

“ And how did he make his money ?” 

“In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he 
struck gold, invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds.” 

“ Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady’s 
—your wife’s character ?” 

The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared 
down into the fire. “You see, Mr. Holmes,” said he, “my 
wife was twenty before her father became a rich man. Dur- 
ing that time she ran free in a mining camp, and wandered 
through woods or mountains, so that her education has 
come from Nature rather than from the school-master. She 
is what we call in England a tomboy, with a strong nature, 
wild and free, unfettered by any sort of traditions. She 
is impetuous—volcanic, I was about to say. She is swift in 
making up her mind, and fearless in carrying out her resolu- 
tions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the 
name which I have the honor to bear’”—he gave a little 
stately cough—‘“had not I thought her to be at bottom a 
noble woman. I believe that she is capable of heroic self- 
sacrifice, and that anything dishonorable would be repug- 
nant to her.” 

“Have you her photograph ?” 

“T brought this with me.” He opened a locket, and show- 
ed us the full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a 
photograph, but an ivory miniature, and the artist had brought 
out the full effect of the lustrous black hair, the large dark 
eyes, and the exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and ear- 
nestly at it. Then he closed the locket and handed it back 
to Lord St. Simon. 

“The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed 
your acquaintance ?” 

“Yes, her father brought her over for this last London sea- 


238 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES - 


son. I met her several times, became engaged to her, and 
have now married her.” 

“She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry ?” 

“ A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family.” 

“ And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is 
a fait accompli?” 

“T really have made no inquiries on the subject.” 

“Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day 
before the wedding ?” 

* Ves,” 

“Was she in good spirits ?” 

“Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in 
our future lives.” 

“Indeed! ‘That is very interesting. And on the morning 
of the wedding ?” 

“She was as bright as gitar least, until after the 
ceremony.” . 

“‘ And did you observe any change in her then ?” 

“Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I 
had ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The 
incident, however, was too trivial to relate, and can have no 
possible bearing upon the case.” 

‘Pray let us have it, for all that.” 

“Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went 
towards the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the 
time, and it fell over into the pew. There was a moment’s 
delay, but the gentleman in the pew handed it up to her 
again, and it did not appear to be the worse for the fall. 
Yet, when I spoke to her of the matter, she answered me 
abruptly; and in the carriage, on our way home, she seemed 
absurdly agitated over this trifling cause.” 

“Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. 
Some of the general public were present, then ?” 

“Oh yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church 
is open.” 

“This gentleman was not one of your wife’s friends ?” 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 239 


“No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was 
quite a common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appear- 
ance. But really I think that we are wandering rather far 
from the point.” 

“Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a 
less cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What 
did she do on re-entering her father’s house?” 

“‘T saw her in conversation with her maid.” 

“ And who is her maid ?” 

“ Alice is her name. She is an American, and came from 
California with her.” 

“A confidential servant ?” 

“A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress 
allowed her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in Amer- 
ica they look upon these things in a different way.” 

“ How long did she speak to this Alice?” 

“Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of.” 

“You did not overhear what they said ?” 

“Lady St. Simon said something about ‘jumping a claim.’ 
She was accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea 
what she meant.” 

“‘ American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what 
did your wife do when she finished speaking to her maid ?” 

“She walked into the breakfast-room.” 

“On your arm?” 

“No, alone. She was very independent in little matters 
like that. Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or 
so, she rose hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and 
left the room. She never came back.” . 

“ But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she 
went to her room, covered her bride’s dress with a long ulster, 
put on a bonnet, and went out.” 

“Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into 
Hyde Park in company with Flora Millar, a woman who is 
now in custody, and who had already made a disturbance at 
Mr. Doran’s house that morning.” 


240 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young 
lady, and your relations to her.” 

Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eye- 
brows. “We have been on a friendly footing for some years 
—I may say on a very friendly footing. She used to be at 
the ‘ Allegro.’ I have not treated her ungenerously, and she 
has no just cause of complaint against me; but you know 
what women are, Mr. Holmes. Flora was a dear little thing, 
but exceedingly hot-headed, and devotedly attached to me. 
She wrote me dreadful letters when she heard that I was 
about to be married ; and, to tell the truth, the reason why I 
had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I feared lest 
there might be a scandal in the church. She came to Mr. 
Doran’s door just after we returned, and she endeavored to 
push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards 
my wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the 
possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police fel- 
lows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. 
She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in mak- 
ing a row.” 

“Did your wife hear all this ?” 

** No, thank goodness, she did not.” 

“ And she was seen walking with this very woman after- 
wards?” 

“Ves. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks 
upon as so serious. Itis thought that Flora decoyed my 
wife out, and laid some terrible trap for her.” 

“Well, it is a possible supposition.” 

“Vou think so, too?” 

“JT did not say a probable one, But you do not yourself 
look upon this as likely ?” 

“T do not think Flora would hurt a fly.” 

“Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray 
what is your own theory as to what took place ?” 

““Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. 
I have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR ' 245 


I may say that it has occurred to me as possible that the ex- 
citement of this affair, the consciousness that she had made 
so immense a social stride, had the effect of causing some lit- 
tle nervous disturbance in my wife.” 

“Tn short, that she had become suddenly deranged ?” 

“Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her 
back—I wifl not say upon me, but upon so much that many 
- have aspired to without success—I can hardly explain it in 
any other fashion.” 

“Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis,” said 
Holmes, smiling. ‘ And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I 
have nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated 
at the breakfast-table so that you could see out of the win- 
dow ?” 

“We could see the other side of the road and the Park.” 

“Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you 
longer. I shall communicate with you.” 

“Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem,” 
said our client, rising. 

“T have solved it.” 

“Eh? What was that?” 

“T say that I have solved it.” 

“Where, then, is my wife ?” 

“That is a detail which I shall speedily supply.” 

Lord St. Simon shook his head. “I am afraid that it will 
take wiser heads than yours or mine,” he remarked, and bow- 
ing in a stately, old-fashioned manner, he departed. 

- “Jt is very good of Lord St. Simon to honor my head by 
putting it on a level with his own,” said Sherlock Holmes, 
laughing. “I think that I shall have a whiskey-and-soda and 
a cigar after all this cross-questioning. I had formed my con- 
clusions as to the case before our client came into the room.” 

“My. dear Holmes !’”” 

“T have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I 
remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole ex- 


amination served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Cir- 
16 


242 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


cumstantial evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when 
you find a trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau’s example.” 

“But I have heard all that you have heard.” 

“Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases 
which serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in 
Aberdeen some years back, and something on very much the 
same lines at Munich the year after the Franco-Prussian war. 
It is one of these cases—but, hello, here is Lestrade! Good- 
- afternoon, Lestrade! You will find an extra tumbler upon 
the sideboard, and there are cigars in the box.” 

The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cra- 
vat, which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he 
carried a black canvas bag in his hand. - With a short greet- 
ing he seated himself and lit the cigar which had been offered 
to him. 

_“What’s up, then?” asked Holmes, with a twinkle in his 
eye. ‘ You look dissatisfied.” 

“And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon mar- . 
riage case. I can make neither head nor tail of the busi- 
ness.” 

“Really! You surprise me.” 

“Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clew 
seems to slip through my fingers. I have been at work upon 
it all day.” | 

“ And very wet it seems to have made you,” said Holmes, 
laying his hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. 

“Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine.” 

“In Heaven’s name, what for ?” 

“Tn search of the body of Lady St. Simon.” 

Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed 
heartily. 

“Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fount- 
ain ?” he asked. 

“Why? What do you mean ?” 

“ Because you have just as good a chance of finding this 
lady in the one as in the other.” 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 243 


Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. “I sup- 
pose you know all about it,” he snarled. 

“Well, ; have only just heard the facts, but my mind is 
made up.” 

“Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays 
no part in the matter ?” 

“JT think it very unlikely.” : 

“Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we 
found this in it?” He opened his bag as he spoke, and tum- 
bled onto the floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of 
white satin shoes, and a bride’s wreath and veil, all discolored 
and soaked in water. “ There,” said he, putting a new wed- 
ding-ring upon the top of the pile. ‘“ There is a little nut for 
you to crack, Master Holmes.” 

“Oh, indeed !” said my friend, blowing blue rings into the 
air. “You dragged them from the Serpentine ?” 

“No. They were found floating near the margin by a park- 
keeper. They have been identified as her clothes, and it 
seemed to me that if the clothes were there the body would 
not be far off.” 

“‘ By the same brilliant reasoning, every man’s body is to be 
found in the neighborhood of his wardrobe. And pray what 
did you hope to arrive at through this ?” | 

** At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disap- 
pearance.” 

“T am afraid that you will find it difficult.” 

“ Are you, indeed, now?” cried Lestrade, with some bitter- 
ness. “I am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical 
with your deductions and your inferences. You have made 
two blunders in as many minutes. This dress does implicate 
Miss Flora Millar.” 

“ And how ?” 

“In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case, 
In the card-case is a note. And here is the very note.” He 
slapped it down upon the table in front of him. “ Listen to 
this: ‘ You will see me when all is ready. Come at once, 


244 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


F. H. M.’ Now my theory all along has been that Lady St. 
Simon was decoyed away by Flora Millar, and that she, with 
confederates, no doubt, was responsible for her disappearance. 
Here, signed with her initials, is the very note which was no 
doubt quietly slipped into her hand at the door, and which 
lured her within their reach.” 

“Very good, Lestrade,” said Holmes, laughing. “ You 
_ really are very fine indeed. Let me see it.” He took up the 
paper in a listless way, but his attention instantly became 
riveted, and he gave a little cry of satisfaction. ‘“ This is in- 
deed important,” said he. 

“Ha! you find it so?” 

“Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly.” 

Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. 
“Why,” he shrieked, “ you’re looking at the wrong side !” 

“On the contrary, this is the right side.” 

“The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written 
in pencil over here.” 

“And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a 
hotel bill, which interests me deeply.” 

“There’s nothing in it. I looked at it before,” said Le- 
strade. ‘ ‘Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6¢., cocktail 15., 
lunch 2s. 6d., glass sherry, 8d.’ I see nothing in that.” 

“Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As 
to the note, it is Senan oe also, or at least the initials are, so 
_ I congratulate you again.” 

“T’ve wasted time enough,” wai Lestrade, rising. “I be- 
lieve in hard work, and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine 
theories. Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which 
gets to the bottom of the matter first.” He gathered up the 
garments, thrust them into the bag, and made for the door. 

“Just one hint to you, Lestrade,” drawled Holmes, before 
his rival vanished; “I will tell you the true solution of the 
matter. Lady St. Simon is a myth. ‘There is not, and there 
never has been, any such person.” 

* Lestrade looked sadly at my companion, Then he turned 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 245 


to me, tapped his forehead three times, shook his head sol- 
emnly, and hurried away. 

He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose 
and put on his overcoat. ‘There is something in what the 
fellow says about out-door work,” he remarked, “so I think, 
Watson, that I must leave you to your papers for a little.” 

It was after five o’clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but 
I had no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived 
a confectioner’s man with a very large flat box. This he un- 
packed with the help of a youth whom he had brought with 
him, and presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite 
epicurean little cold supper began to be laid out upon our 
humble lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of 
brace of cold woodcock, a pheasant, a paid de foie gras pie, 
with a group of ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid 
out all these luxuries, my two visitors vanished away, like the 
genii of the Arabian Nights, with no explanation save that 
the things had been paid for and were ordered to this address. 

Just before nine o’clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly 
into the room. His features were gravely set, but there was a 
light in his eye which made me think that he had not been 
disappointed in his conclusions. 

“They have laid the supper, then,” he said, rubbing his 
hands. 

“You seem to expect company. They have laid for five.” 

“Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in,” 
said he. “I am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not al- 
ready arrived. Ha! I fancy that I hear his step now upon 
the stairs.” 

It was indeed our visitor of the morning who came bustling 
in, dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a 
very perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. 

“My messenger reached you, then ?” asked Holmes. 

“Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond 
measure. Have you good authority for what you say ?” 

“The best possible.” 


a 


246 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over 
his forehead. 

“What will the duke say,” he murmured, “ when he hears 
that one of the family has been subjected to such humilia- 
tion ?” : 

“Tt is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any 
humiliation.” 

“Ah, you look on these things from aunties stand-point.” 

- “J fail to see that any one is to blame. I can hardly see 
how the lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt 
method of doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having 
no mother, she had no one to advise her at such a crisis,” 

“It was a slight, sir, a public slight,” said Lord St. Simon, 
tapping his fingers upon the table. 

“You must make allowance for this poor vitl placed i in so 
unprecedented a position.” 

“JT will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I 
have been shamefully. used.” 

“T think that I heard a ring,” said Holmes. “ Yes, there 
are steps on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a 
lenient view of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an 
advocate here who may be more successful.” He opened the 
door and ushered in a lady and gentleman. “Lord St. Si- 
mon,” said he, “allow me to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. 
Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I think, you have already 
met.” 

At the sight of these new-comers our client had sprung 
from his seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down 
and his hand thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture 
of offended dignity. The lady had taken a quick step for- 
ward and had held out her hand to him, but he still refused to 
raise his eyes. It was as well for his resolution, perhaps, for 
her pleading face was one which it was hard to resist. 

“Vou’re angry, Robert,” said she. “Well, I guess you 
have every cause to be.” 

“ Pray make no apology to me,” said Lord St. Simon, bitterly. 


THE ADVENTURE .OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 247 


“Oh yes, I know that I have treated you real bad, and that 
I should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of 
rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I 
just didn’t know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder 
I didn’t fall down and do a faint right there before the 
altar.” 

“Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me 
to leave the room while you explain this matter ?”’ 

“Tf I may give an opinion,” remarked the strange gentle- 
man, “we’ve had just a little too much secrecy over this busi- 
ness already. For my part, I should like all Europe and 
America to hear the rights of it.” He was a small, wiry, 
sunburnt man, clean shaven, with a sharp face and alert 
manner. 

“Then I’ll tell our story right away,” said the lady. “ Frank 
here and I met in ’84, in McQuire’s camp, near the Rockies, 
where pa was working a claim. We were engaged to each 
other, Frank and I; but then one day father struck a rich 
pocket and made a pile, while poor Frank here had a claim 
that petered out and came to nothing. The richer pa grew, 
the poorer was Frank ; so at last pa wouldn’t hear of our en- 
gagement lasting any longer, and he took me away to ’Frisco. 
Frank wouldn’t throw up his hand, though; so he followed 
me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything about 
it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just 
fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go 
and make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me 
until he had as much as pa. So then I promised to 
wait for him to the end of time, and pledged myself not to 
marry any one else while he lived. ‘Why shouldn’t we be 
married right away, then,’ said he, ‘and then I will feel sure 
of you; and I won’t claim to be your husband until I come 
back?’ Well, we talked it over, and he had fixed it all up so 
nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, that we just did 
it right there ; and then Frank went off to seek his fortune, 
and I went back to pa. 


248 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, 
and then he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of 
him from New Mexico. After that came a long newspaper 
story about how a miners’ camp had been attacked by Apache 
Indians, and there was my Frank’s name among the killed. 
I fainted dead away, and I was very sick for months after. 
Pa thought I had a decline, and took me to half the doctors 
in Frisco. Not a word of news came for a year and more, so 
that I never doubted that Frank was really dead. Then 
Lord St. Simon came to ’Frisco, and we came to London, and 
a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt 
all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the 
place in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. 

“ Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I’d have 
done my duty by him. We can’t command our love, but we 
can our actions. I went to the altar with him with the inten- 
tion to make him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. 
But you may imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the 
altar rails, I glanced back and saw Frank standing and look- 
ing at me out of the first pew. I thought it was his ghost at 
first ; but when I looked again, there he was still, with a kind 
of question in his eyes as if to ask me whether I were glad or 
sorry to see him. I wonder I didn’t drop. I know that every- 
thing was turning -round, and the words of the clergyman 
were just like the buzz of a bee in my ear. I didn’t know 
what to do. Should I stop the service and make a scene in 
the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to know 
what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to tell 
me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, 
and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his 
pew on the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and 
he slipped the note into my hand when he returned me the 
flowers. It was only a line asking me to join him when he 
made the sign to me to do so. Of course I never doubted 
for a moment that my first duty was now to him, and I deter- 
mined to do just whatever he might direct. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 249 


“ When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in 
California, and had always been his friend. I ordered her to 
say nothing, but to get a few things packed and my ulster 
ready. I know I ought to have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but 
it was dreadful hard before his mother and all those great peo- 
ple. I just made up my mind to run away and explain after- 
wards. I hadn’t been at the table ten minutes before I saw 
Frank out of the window at the other side of the road. He 
beckoned to me, and then began walking into the Park. I 
slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman 
came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to me 
- —seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little 
secret of his own before marriage also—but I managed to get 
away from her, and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab 
together, and away we drove to some lodgings he had taken 
in Gordon Square, and that was my true wedding after all 
those years of waiting. Frank had been a prisoner among 
the Apaches, had escaped, came on to ’Frisco, found that I 
had given him up for dead and had gone to England, followed 
me there, and had come upon me at last on the very morning 
of my second wedding.” 

“T saw it in a paper,” explained the American. “It gave 
the name and the church, but not where the lady lived.” 

“Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank 
was all for openness, but I was so ashamed of it-all that I felt 
as if I should like to vanish away and never see any of them 
again—just sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I 
was alive. It was awful to me to think of all those lords and 
ladies sitting round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to 
come back. So Frank took my wedding-clothes and things 
and made a bundle of them, so that I should not be traced, 
and dropped them away somewhere where no one could find 
them. It is likely that we should have gone on to Paris to- 
morrow, only that this good gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came 
round to us this evening, though how he found us is more 
than I can think, and he showed us very clearly and kindly 


250 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and that we 
should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so secret. 
Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord St. 
Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms 
at once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very 
sorry if I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not 
think very meanly of me.” 

Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, 
but had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip 
to this long narrative. 

“Excuse me,” he said, “ but it is not my custom to discuss 
my most intimate personal affairs in this public manner.” 

“Then you won’t forgive me? You won’t shake hands be- 
fore I go?” 

“Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure.” He put 
out his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to 
him. | 

“T had hoped,” suggested Holmes, “that you would have 
joined us in a friendly supper.” 

“T think that there you ask a little too much,” responded 

his lordship. “I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent 
developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry 
over them. I think that, with your permision, I will now wish 
you all a very good-night.” He included us all in a sweeping 
bow and stalked out of the room. 
“Then I trust that you at least will honor me with your 
company,” said Sherlock Holmes. “It is always a joy to 
meet an American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who 
believe that the folly of a monarch and the blundering of a 
minister in far-gone years will not prevent our children from 
being some day citizens of the same world-wide country under 
a flag which shall be a quartering of the Union Jack with the 
Stars and Stripes.” 


“The case has been an interesting one,” remarked Holmes, 
when our visitors had left us, ‘‘ because it serves to show very 


‘ 


I WILL 


WISH YOU ALL A VERY GOOD NIGHT’” 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 251 


clearly how simple the explanation may be of an affair which 
at first sight seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could 
be more natural than the sequence of events as narrated by 
this lady, and nothing stranger than the result when viewed, 
for instance, by Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard.” 

“You were not yourself at fault at all, then?” 

“From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one 
that the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding 
ceremony, the other that she had repented of it within a few 
minutes of returning home. Obviously something had oc- 
curred during the morning, then, to cause her to change her 
mind. What could that something be? She could not have 
spoken to any one when she was out, for she had been in the 
company of the bridegroom. Had she seen some one, then ? 
If she had, it must be some one from America, because she 
had spent so short a time in this country that she could hardly 
have allowed any one to acquire so deep an influence over her 
that the mere sight of him would induce her to change her 
plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a 
process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an 
American. Then who could this American be, and why should 
he possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; 
it might be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, 
been spent in rough scenes and under strange conditions. So 
far I had got before I ever heard Lord St. Simon’s narrative. 
When he told us of a man in a pew, of the change in the 
bride’s manner, of so transparent a device for obtaining a note 
as the dropping of a bouquet, of her resort to her confidential 
maid, and of her very significant allusion to claim-jumping 
—which in miners’ parlance means taking possession of that 
which another person has a prior claim to—the whole situation 
became absolutely clear. She had gone off with a man, and 
the man was either a lover or was a previous husband—the 
chances being in favor of the latter.” 

“ And how in the world did you find them ?” 

“It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held in- 


252 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


formation in his hands the value of which he did not himself 
know. The initials were of course of the highest importance, 
but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he 
had settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels.” 

“How did you deduce the select ?” 

“ By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eight- 
pence for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expen. 
sive hotels. There are not many in London which charge at 
that rate. In the second one which I visited in Northumber- 
land Avenue, I learned by an inspection of the book that Fran- 
cis H. Moulton, an American gentleman, had left only the day 
-before, and on looking over the entries against him, I came 
upon the very items which I had seen in the duplicate bill. 
His letters were to be forwarded to 226 Gordon Square; so 
thither I travelled, and being fortunate enough to find the 
loving couple at home, I ventured to give them some paternal 
advice, and to point out to them that it would be better in 
every way that they should make their position a little clearer 
both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in partic- 
ular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I 
made him keep the appointment.” 

“But with no very good result,” I remarked. ‘ His con- 
duct was certainly not very gracious.” 

“ Ah, Watson,” said Holmes, smiling, “ perhaps you would 
not be very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing 
and wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of 
wife and of fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon 
very mercifully, and thank our stars that we are never likely 
to find ourselves in the same position. Draw your chair up, 
and hand me my violin, for the only problem we have still to 
solve is how to while away these bleak autumnal evenings.” 


Adventure FT 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 


OP JOLMES,” said I, as I stood one morning in our 
IyZ 


bow-window looking down the street, “here is a 
madman coming along. It seems rather sad that 
his relatives should allow him to come out alone.” 

My friend rose lazily from his arm-chair and stood with — 
his hands in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over 
my shoulder. It was a bright, crisp February morning, and 
‘the snow of the day before still lay deep upon the ground, 
shimmering brightly in the wintry sun. Down the centre of 
Baker Street it had been ploughed into a brown crumbly band 
by the traffic, but at either side and on the heaped-up edges of 
the foot-paths it still lay as white as when it fell. The gray 
pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but was still danger- 
ously slippery, so that there were fewer passengers than usual. 
Indeed, from the direction of the Metropolitan Station no one 
was coming save the single gentleman whose eccentric con- 
duct had drawn my attention. 

He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, 
with a massive, strongly marked face and a commanding 
figure. He was dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black 
frock-coat, shining hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl- 
gray trousers. Yet his actions were in absurd contrast to the 
dignity of his dress and features, for he was running hard, with 
occasional little springs, such as a weary man gives who is 
little accustomed to set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he 
jerked his hands up and down, waggled his head, and writhed 
his face into the most extraordinary contortions. 


254 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“What on earth can be the matter with him?” I asked. 
“ He is looking up at the numbers of the houses.” 

“TI believe that he is coming here,” said Holmes, rubbing 
his hands. 

“ Here ?” 

“Yes; I rather. think he is coming to consult me profes- 
sionally. I think that I recognize the symptoms. Ha! did I 
not tell you?” As he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, 
rushed at our door and pulled at our bell until the whole 
house resounded with the clanging. | 

A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still 
‘gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in 
his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror 
and pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but 
‘swayed his body and plucked at his hair like one who has 
been driven to the extreme limits of his reason. Then, sud- 
denly springing to his feet, he beat his head against the wall 
with such force that we both rushed upon him and tore him 
away to the centre of the room. Sherlock Holmes pushed 
him down into the easy-chair, and, sitting beside him, patted 
his hand, and chatted with him in the easy, soothing tones 
which he knew so well how to employ. 

“You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?” 
said he. ‘“ You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until 
you have recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy 
to look into any little problem which you may submit to me.” 

The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, 
fighting against his emotion. Then he passed his handker- 
chief over his brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face 
towards us. 

“No doubt you think me mad ?” said he. 

“T see that you have had some great trouble,” responded 
Holmes. me 

“God knows I have !—a trouble which is enough to unseat 
my reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I 
might have faced, although I am a man whose character has 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 255 


never yet borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of 
every man; but the two coming together, and in so frightful a 
form, have been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it 
is not alone. The very noblest in the land may suffer, unless - 
some way be found out of this horrible affair.” 

“Pray compose yourself, sir,” said Holmes, “and let me 
have a clear account of who you are, and what it is that has 
befallen you.” 

“My name,” answered our visitor, “is probably familiar to 
your ears. {I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm: of 
Holder & Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street.” 

The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the 
senior partner in the second largest private banking concern 
in the City of London. What could have happened, then, to 
bring one of the foremost citizens of London to this most 
pitiable pass? We waited, all curiosity, until with another 
effort he braced himself to tell his story. 

“T feel that time is of value,” said he} “that is why I hastened 
here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure 
your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Under- 
ground, and hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly 
through this snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for 
I am a man who takes very little exercise. I feel better now, 
and I will put the facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly 
as I can. 

“Tt is, of course, well known to you that in a successful 
banking business as much depends upon our being able to 
find remunerative investments for our funds as upon our in- 
creasing our connection and the number of our depositors. 
One of our most lucrative means of laying out money is in 
the shape of loans, where the security is unimpeachable. We 
have dgne a good deal in this direction during the last few 
years, and there are many noble families to whom we have 
advanced large sums upon the security of their pictures, libra- 
ries, or plate. 

“Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank 


256 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


when a card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I 
started when I saw the name, for it was that of none other 
than—well, perhaps even to you I had better say no more 
*than that it was a name which is a household word all over 
the earth—one of the highest, noblest, most exalted names in 
England. . I was overwhelmed by the honor, and attempted, 
when he entered, to say so, but he plunged at once into busi- 
ness with the air of a man who wishes to hurry quickly through 
a disagreeable task. 

“‘¢ Mr. Holder,’ said he, ‘I have been informed that you are 
in the habit of advancing money.’ 

“The firm do so when the security is good,’ I answered. 

“Tt is absolutely essential to me,’ said he, ‘that I should 
have £50,000 at once. I could of course borrow so trifling a 
sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make 
it a matter of business, and to carry out that business myself. 
In my position you can readily understand that it is unwise to 
place one’s self under obligations.’ 

““¢ For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?’ I asked. 

“«¢ Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall 
then most certainly repay what you advance, with whatever 
interest you think it right to charge. But it is very essential 
to me that the money should be paid at once.’ 

“¢T should be happy to advance it without further parley 
from my own private purse,’ said I, ‘were it not that the 
strain would be rather more than it could bear. If, on the 
other hand, I am to do it in the name of the firm, then in 
justice to my partner I must insist that, even in your case, 
every business-like precaution should be taken.’ 

“‘*T should much prefer to have it so,’ said he, raising upa a 
square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. 
‘You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet ?’ 

“¢QOne of the most precious public possessions of the em- 
pire,’ said I. 

“« Precisely.’ He opened the case, and there, imbedded 
in soft, flesh-colored velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jew- 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 257 


elry which he had named. ‘There are thirty-nine enormous 
beryls,’ said he, “and the price of the gold chasing is incal- 
culable. The lowest estimate would put the worth of the 
coronet at double the sum which I have asked. I am pre- 
pared to leave it with you as my security.’ 3 

“‘T took the precious case into my hands and looked in 
some perplexity from it to my illustrious client. 

“¢ Vou doubt its value?’ he asked. 

“*Not at all. I only doubt—’ 

“«*The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind 
at rest about that. I should not dream of doing so were 
it not absolutely certain that I should be able in four days 
to reclaim it. It is a pure matter of form. Is the security 
sufficient ?” 

“¢ Ample.’ 

“*VYou understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a 
strong proof of the confidence which I have in you, founded 
upon all that I have heard of you. I rely upon you not 
only to be discreet and to refrain from all gossip upon the 
matter, but, above all, to preserve this coronet with every 
possible precaution, because I need not say that a great 
public scandal would be caused if any harm were to befall it. 
Any injury to it would be almost as serious as its complete 
loss, for there are no beryls in the world to match these, and 
it would be impossible to replace them. [ leave it with you, 
however, with every confidence, and I shall call for it in person 
on Monday morning.’ 

“Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no 
more ; but, calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over 
fifty £1000 notes. When I was alone once more, however, 
with the precious case lying upon the table in front of me; 
I could not but think with some misgivings of the immense 
responsibility which it entailed upon me. There could be 
no doubt that, as it was a national possession, a horrible 
scandal would ensue if any misfortune should occur to it. I 


already regretted having ever consented to take charge of it. 
17 


258 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


However, it was too late to alter the matter now, so I locked 
it up in my private safe, and turned once more to my work. 

“When evening came I felt that it would-be an imprudence 
to leave so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers’ 
safes had been forced before now, and why should not mine 
be? If so, how terrible would be the position in which I 
should find myself! I determined, therefore, that for the 
next few days I would always carry the case backward and 
forward with me, so that it might never be really out of my 
reach. With this intention, I called a cab, and drove out to 
my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel with me. I did 
not breathe freely until I had taken it up-stairs and locked it 
in the bureau of my dressing-room. 

“ And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I 
wish you to thoroughly understand the situation. My groom 
and my page sleep out of the house, and may be set aside 
altogether. I have three maid-servants who have been with 
me a number of years, and whose absolute reliability is quite 
above suspicion. Another, Lucy Parr, the second waiting- 
maid, has only been in my service a few months. She came 
with an excellent character, however, and has always given me 
satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl, and has attracted ad- 
mirers who have occasionally hung about the place. That is 
the only drawback which we have found to her, but we believe 
her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. 

‘So much for the servants. My family itself is so small 
that it will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower, 
and have an only son, Arthur. He has been a disappoint- 
ment to me, Mr. Holmes—a grievous disappointment. I have 
no doubt that I am myself to blame. People tell me that I 
have spoiled him. Very likely I have. When my dear wife 
died I felt that he was all I had to love. I could not bear to 
see the smile fade even for a moment from his face. I have 
never denied him a wish. Perhaps it would have been better 
for both of us had I been sterner, but I meant it for the best. 

“Tt was naturally my intention that he should succeed me 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 259 


in my business, but he was not of a business turn. He was 
wild, wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him: 
in the handling of large sums of money. When he was young 
he became a member of an aristocratic club, and there, having 
charming manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of 
men with long purses and expensive habits. He learned to 
play heavily at cards and to squander money on the turf, 
until he had again and again to come to me and implore me 
to give him an advance upon his allowance, that he might 
settle his debts of honor. He tried more than once to break 
away from the dangerous company which he was keeping, but 
each time the influence of his-friend Sir George Burnwell was 
enough to draw him back again. 

** And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir 
George Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he 
has frequently brought him to my house, and I have found my- 
self that I could hardly resist the fascination of his manner. 
He is older than Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, 
one who had been everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant 
talker, and a man of great personal beauty. Yet when I think 
of him in cold blood, far away from the glamour of his pres- 
ence, I am convinced from his cynical speech, and the look 
which I have caught in his eyes, that he is one who should 
be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, too, thinks my 
little Mary, who has a woman’s quick insight into character. 

“And now there is only she to be described. She is my 
niece; but when my brother died five years ago and left her 
alone in the world I adopted her, and have looked upon her 
ever since as my daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house— 
sweet, loving, beautiful, a wonderful manager and house- 
keeper, yet as tender and quiet and gentle as a woman could 
be. She is my right hand. I do not know what I could do 
without her. In only one matter has she ever gone against 
my wishes. ‘Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for 
he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I 
think that if any one could have drawn him into the right path 


260 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


it would have been she, and that his marriage might have 
changed his whole life; but now, alas! it is too late—for ever 
too late! ; 

“Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under 
my roof, and I shall continue with my miserable story. 

“When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that 
night, after dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, 
and of the precious treasure which we had under our roof, 
suppressing only the name of my client. Lucy Parr, who had 
brought in the -coffee, had, I am sure, left the room; but I 
cannot swear that the door was closed. Mary and Arthur 
were much interested, and wished to see the famous coronet, 
but I thought it better not to disturb it. 

“«¢ Where have you put it?’ asked Arthur. 

**¢TIn my own bureau.’ 

“¢Well, I hope to goodness the house won’t be burgled 
during the night,’ said he. 

““¢Tt is locked up,’ Ianswered. _ 

“¢QOh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a 
youngster I have opened it myself with the key of the box- 
room cupboard.’ 

“ He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little 
of what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that 
night with a very grave face. 

“‘¢ Took here, dad,’ said he, with his eyes cast down, ‘can 
you let me have £200?” 

“No, I cannot!’ I answered, sharply. ‘I have been far 
too generous with you in money matters.’ 

“Vou have been very kind,’ said he: ‘but I must have 
this money, or else I can never show my face inside the club 
again.’ 

“« And.a very good thing, too!’ I cried. 

““*Ves, but you would not have me leave it a dishonored 
man,’ said he. ‘I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise 
the money in some way, and if you will not let me have it, 
then I must try other means.’ 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 261 


“T was very angry, for this was the third demand during 
the month. ‘You shall not have a farthing from me,’ I cried ; 
on which he bowed and left the room without another word. 

“When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that 
my treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to 
go round the house to see that all was secure—a duty which 
I usually leave to Mary, but which I thought it well to per- 
form myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw 
Mary herself at the side window of the hall, which she closed 
and fastened as I approached. 

““¢Tell me, dad,’ said she, looking, I thought, a little dis- 
turbed, ‘did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out to-night ?’ 

“* Certainly not.’ 

«She came in just now by the back door. I have no 
doubt that she has only been to the side gate to see some one; 
but I think that it is hardly safe, and should be stopped.” 

“‘* You must speak to her in the morning, or I will, if you 
prefer it. Are you sure that everything is fastened ?’ 

*¢ Quite sure, dad.’ 

“* Then, good-night.’ I kissed her, and went up to my bed- 
room again, where I was soon asleep. 

“T am endeavoring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, 
which may have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you 
will question me upon any point which I do not make clear.” 

“On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid.” 

“TI come to a part of my story now in which I should wish 
to be particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the 
anxiety in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less 
so than usual. About two in the morning, then, I was awa- 
kened by some sound in the house. It had ceased ere I was 
wide awake, but it had left an impression behind it as though 
a window had gently closed somewhere. [I lay listening with 
all my ears. Suddenly, to my horror, there was a distinct 
sound of footsteps moving softly in the next room. I slipped 
‘out of bed, all palpitating. with fear, and peeped round the 
corner of my dressing-room door. 


262 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“* Arthur!’ I screamed, ‘you villain! you thief! How 
dare you touch that coronet ?’ 

“The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy 
boy, dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing be- 
side the light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared 
to be wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At 
my cry he dropped it from his grasp, and turned as pale as 
death. I snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold 
corners, with three of the beryls in it, was missing. 

“*You blackguard!’ I shouted, beside myself with rage. 
‘You have destroyed it! You have dishonored me for ever! 
Where are the jewels which you have stolen?’ 

“¢ Stolen !’ he cried. 3 

“Ves, you thief !’ I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. 

“There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,’ 
said he. 

_ “There are three missing. And you know where they are. 
Must I call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you 
trying to tear off another piece ?’ 

““¢ You have called me names enough,’ said he; ‘I will not 
stand it any longer. I shall not say another word about this 
business since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave 
your house in the morning and make my own way in the 
world.’ 

“¢Vou shall leave it in the hands of the police!’ I cried, 
half-mad with grief and rage. ‘I shall have this matter 
probed to the bottom.’ | 

“*Vou shall learn nothing from me,’ said he, with a pas- 
sion such as I should not have thought was in his nature. 
‘If you choose to call the police, let the police find what 
they can.’ 

“By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised 
my voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my 
room, and, at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur’s face, 
she read. the whole story, and, with a scream, fell down sense- 
less on the ground. I sent the house-maid for the police, and 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 263 


put the investigation into their hands at once. When the 
inspector and a constable entered the house, Arthur, who had 
stood sullenly with his arms folded, asked me whether it was 
my intention to charge him with theft. I answered that it 
had ceased to be a private matter, but had become a public 
one, since the ruined coronet was national property. I was 
determined that the law should have its way in everything. 

“* At least,’ said he, ‘you will not have me arrested at once. 
It would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave 
the house for five minutes.’ 

“*That you may get away, or perhaps that you may con- 
ceal what you have stolen,’ said I. And then realizing the 
dreadful position in which I was placed, I implored him to 
remember that not only my honor, but that of one who was 
far greater than I was at stake; and that he threatened to 
raise a scandal which would convulse the nation. He might 
avert it all if he would but tell me what he had done with the 
three missing stones. 

“*Vou may as well face the matter,’ saidI; ‘you have 
been caught in the act, and no confession could make your 
guilt more heinous. If you but make such reparation as is in 
your power, by telling us where the beryls are, all shall be 
forgiven and forgotten.’ 

“*Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,’ he an- 
swered, turning away from me, with a sneer. I saw that he 
was too hardened for any words of mine to influence him. 
There was but one way for it. I called in the inspector, and 
gave him into custody. A search was made at once, not only 
of his person, but of his room, and of every portion of the 
house where he could possibly have concealed the gems; but 
no trace of them could be found, nor would the wretched boy 
open his mouth for all our persuasions and our threats. This 
morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after going through 
all the police formalities, have hurried round to you, to im- 
plore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. The 
police have openly confessed that they can at present make 


264 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think 
necessary. I have already offered a reward of £1000. My 
God, what shall I do! I have lost my honor, my gems, and 
my son in one night. Oh, what shall I do!” 

He put a hand on either side of his head, and rocked him- 
self to and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has 
got beyond words. 

Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his 
brows knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. 

“ Do you receive much company ?” he asked. 

“None, save my partner with his family, and an occasional 
friend of Arthur’s. Sir George Burnwell has been several 
times lately. No one else, I think.” 

“Do you go out much in society ?” 

“Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of 
us care for it.” 

“That is unusual in a young girl.” 

“She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very 
young. She is four-and-twenty.” 

“This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a 
shock to her also.” 

“Terrible! She is even more affected than I.” 

“You have neither of you any doubt as to your son’s 
guilt ?” : 

“How can we have, when I saw him with my own eyes 
with the coronet in his hands.” 

“T hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the re- 
mainder of the coronet at all injured ?” 

“ Yes, it was twisted.” 

“Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to 
straighten it?” 

“God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and 
forme. But it is too heavy atask. What was he doing there 
-at all? Ifhis purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?” 

“Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a 
lie? His silence appears to me to cut both ways. ‘There are 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 265 


several singular points about the case. What did the police 
think of the noise which awoke you from your sleep?” 

“They considered that it might be caused by Arthur’s clos- 
ing his bedroom door.” 

“ A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam 
his door so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, 
of the disappearance of these gems ?” 

“They are still sounding the planking and probing the 
furniture in the hope of finding them.” 

“‘ Have they thought of looking outside the house ?” 

“Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole 
garden has already been minutely examined.” 

‘* Now, my dear sir,” said Holmes, “is it not obvious to 
you now that this matter really strikes very much deeper than 
either you or the police were at first inclined to think? It 
appeared to you to be a simple case; to me it seems exceed- 
ingly complex. Consider what is involved by your theory. 
You suppose that your son came down from his bed, went, at 
great risk, to your dressing-room, opened your bureau, took 
out your coronet, broke off by main force a small portion of 
it, went off to some other place, concealed three gems out of 
,the thirty-nine, with such skill that nobody can find them, 
and then returned with the other thirty-six into the room in 
which he exposed himself to the greatest danger of being dis- 
covered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable ?” 

“But what other is there ?” cried the banker, with a gesture 
of despair. “If his motives were innocent, why does he not 
explain them ?” 

“Tt is our task to find that out,” replied Holmes ; “so now, 
if you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham to- 
gether, and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely 
into details.” : 

My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their 
expedition, which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity 
and sympathy were deeply stirred by the story to which we 
had listened. I confess that the guilt of the banker’s son 


266 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


appeared to me to be as obvious as it did to his unhappy 
father, but still I had such faith in Holmes’s judgment that I 
felt that there must be some grounds for hope as long as he 
was dissatisfied with the accepted explanation. Ne hardly 
spoke a word the whole way out to the southern suburb, but 
sat with his chin upon his breast and his hat drawn over his 
eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client appeared to 
have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope which had 
been presented to him, and he even broke into a desultory 
chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway jour- 
ney and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest 
residence of the great financier. 

Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, 
standing back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, 
with a snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large 
iron gates which closed the entrance. On the right side was 
a small wooden thicket, which led into a narrow path between 
two néat hedges stretching from the road to the kitchen door, 
and forming the tradesmen’s entrance. On the left ran a lane 
which led to the stables, and was not itself within the grounds 
at all, being a public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes 
left us standing at the door, and walked slowly all round the 
house, across the front, down the tradesmen’s path, and so 
round by the garden behind into the stable lane. So long was 
he that Mr. Holder and I went into the dining-room and 
waited by the fire until he should return. We were sitting 
there in silence when the door opened and a young lady came 
in. She was rather above the middle height, slim, with dark 
hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against the absolute 
pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever seen such 
deadly paleness in a woman’s face. Her lips, too, were blood- 
less, but-her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept 
silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense 
of grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was 
the more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of 
strong character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 267 


Disregarding my presence, she went straight to her uncle, and 
passed her hand over his head with a sweet womanly caress. 

“You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, 
have you not, dad ?” she asked. 

“No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom.” 

“But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what 
women’s instincts are. I know that he has done no harm 
and that you will be sorry for having acted so harshly.” 

“Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent ?” 

“Who knows? ree because he was so angry that you 
should suspect him.” 

“How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw 
him with the coronet in his hand?” 

“ Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh do, 
do take my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter 
drop and say no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear 
Arthur in prison !” 

“‘T shall never let it drop until the gems are found—never, 
Mary! Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful 
consequences to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have 
brought a gentleman down from London to inquire more 
deeply into it.” 

“This gentleman ?” she asked, facing round to me. 

“No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is 
round in the stable lane now.” 

“The stable lane?” She raised her dark eyebrows. ‘What 
can he hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I 
trust, sir, that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is 
the truth, that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime.” 

“JT fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we 
may prove it,” returned Holmes, going back to the mat to 
knock the snow from his shoes. “TI believe I have the honor 
of addressing Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a ques- 
tion or two ?” 

“‘ Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up.” 

“ You heard nothing yourself last night ?” 


268 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“ Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I 
heard that, and I came down.” 

“You shut up the windows and doors the night before. 
Did you fasten all the windows ?” 

ak 4 

“Were they all fastened this morning ?” 

aes. 

“You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you 
remarked to your uncle last night that she had been out to 
see him ?” 

“Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, 
and who may have heard uncle’s remarks about the coronet.” 

“T see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her 
sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery.” 

“But what is the good of all these vague theories,” cried 
the banker, impatiently, “when I have told you that I saw 
Arthur with the coronet in his hands ?” 

“Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. 
About this girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the 
kitchen door, I presume ?” 

“Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the 
night I met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom.” 

“ Do you know him ?” 

“Oh yes; he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables 
round. His name is Francis Prosper.” 

“He stood,” said Holmes, “to the left of the door—that 
is to say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the 
door ?” 

“Yes, he did.” 

“And he is a man with a wooden leg ?” 

Something like fear sprang up in the young lady’s express- 
ive black eyes. “Why, you are like a magician,” said she. 
“How do you know that?” She smiled, but there was no 
answering smile in Holmes’s thin, eager face. 

“T should be very glad now to go up-stairs,” said he. “I 
shall probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 269 


Perhaps I had better take a look at the lower windows before 
I go up.” 

He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing 
only at the large one which looked from the hall onto the 
stable lane. This he opened, and made a very careful exam- 
ination of the sill with his powerful magnifying lens. ‘“ Now 
we shall go up-stairs,” said he, at last. 

The banker’s dressing-room was a plainly furnished little 
chamber, with a gray carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. 
Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the 
lock. 

“Which key was used to open it ?” he asked. 

“That which my son himself indicated—that of the cup- 
board of the lumber-room.” 

_ “ Have you it here ?” 
. “ That is it on the dressing-table.” 

Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. 

“Tt is a noiseless lock,” said he. “It is no wonder that it 
did not wake you. ‘This case, I presume, contains the coronet. 
We must have a look at it.’ He opened the case, and, taking 
out the diadem, he laid it upon the table. It was a magnifi- 
cent specimen of the jeweller’s art, and the thirty-six stones 
were the finest that I have ever seen. At one side of the 
coronet was a cracked edge, where a corner holding three 
gems had been torn away. 

“Now, Mr. Holder,” said Holmes, “here is the corner 
which corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately 
lost. Might I beg that you will break it off.” 

The banker recoiled in horror. “I should not dream of 
trying,” said he. 

“Then I will.” Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon 
it, but without result. “I feel it give a little,” said he; “but, 
though I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take 
me all my time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. 
Now, what do you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. 
Holder? ‘There would be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you 


270 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


tell me that all this happened within a few yards of your bed, 
and that you heard nothing of it ?” 

“T do not know what to think. It is all dark to me.” 

“ But perhaps it may grow lighter-as we go. What do you 
think, Miss Holder ?” 

“I confess that I still share my uncle’s perplexity.” 

“Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw 
him ?” 

“He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt.” 

“Thank you. We have certainly been favored with ex- 
traordinary luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely 
our own fault if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. 
With your permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my 
investigations outside.” 

He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that 
any unnecessary footmarks might make his task more dif- 
ficult. For an hour or more he was at work, returning at last 
with his feet heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable 
as ever. 

“T think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. 
Holder,” said he; “I can serve you best by returning to 
my rooms.” 

“But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they ?” 

“T cannot tell.” | } 

The banker wrung his hands. “I shall never see them 
again!” he cried. “And my son? You give me hopes?” 

“My opinion is in no way altered.” 

“Then, for God’s sake, what was this dark business which 
was acted in my house last night ?” 

“Tf you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to- 
morrow morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do 
what I can to make it clearer. I understand that you give 
me carte blanche to act for you, provided only that I get back 
the gems, and that you place no limit on the sum I may draw.” 

“T would give my fortune to have them back.” 

“Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 271 


then. Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come 
over here again before evening.” 

It was obvious to me that my companion’s mind was now 
made up about the case, although what his conclusions were 
was more than I could even dimly imagine. Several times 
during our homeward journey I endeavored to sound him 
upon the point, but he always glided away to some other topic, 
until at last I gave it over in despair. It was not yet three 
when we found ourselves in our room once more. He hurried 
to his chamber, and was down again in a few minutes dressed 
as a common loafer. With his collar turned up, his shiny, 
seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he was a per- 
fect sample of the class. 

“J think that this should do,” said he, glancing into the 
glass above the fireplace. “I only wish that you could come 
with me, Watson, but I fear that it won’t do. I may be on 
the trail in this matter, or I may be following a will-of-the- 
wisp, but I shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be 
back in a few hours.” He cut a slice of beef from the joint 
upon the sideboard, sandwiched it between two rounds of 
bread, and, thrusting this rude meal into his pocket, he started 
off upon his expedition. 

I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in 
excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his 
hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself 
to a cup of tea. 

“IT only looked in as I passed,” said he. “I am going 
right on.” 

“Where to ?” 

“Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some 
time before I get back. Don’t wait up for me in case I should 
be late.” 

“How are you getting on?” 

“Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to 
Streatham since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. 
It is a very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed 


272 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


it for a good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, 
but must get these disreputable clothes off and return to my 
highly respectable self.” 

I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for 
satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes 
twinkled, and there was even a touch of color upon his sallow 
cheeks. He hastened up-stairs, and a few minutes later I 
heard the slam of the hall door, which told me that he was off 
once more upon his congenial hunt. 

I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, 
so I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him 
to be away for days and nights on end when he was hot upon 
a scent, so that his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not 
know at what hour he came in, but when I came down to 
breakfast in the morning, there he was with a cup of coffee 
in one hand and the paper in the other, as fresh and trim as 
possible. ) 

“You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson,” said 
he; “but you remember that our client has rather an early 
appointment this morning.” 

“Why, it is after nine now,” I answered. “I should not be 
surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring.” 

It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by 
the change which had come over him, for his face, which was 
naturally of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and 
fallen in, while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. 
He entered with a weariness and lethargy which was even 
more painful than his violence of the morning before, and he 
dropped heavily into the arm-chair which I pushed forward 
for him. 

“T do not know what I have done to be so severely tried,” 
said he. ‘Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous 
man, without a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely 
and dishonored age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels 
of another. My niece, Mary, has deserted me.” 

“Deserted you?” 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 273 


“Ves. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her 
room was empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. 
I had said to her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that 
if she had married my boy all might have been well with him. 
Perhaps it was thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that re- 
mark that she refers in this note: 


“My pEarEst UNCLE,—I feel that I have brought trouble 
upon you, and that if I had acted differently this terrible mis- 
fortune might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought 
in my mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel 
that I must leave you for ever. Do not worry about my fut- 
ure, for that is provided for; and, above all, do not search for 
me, for it will be fruitless labor and an ill-service to me. In 
life or in death, I am ever your loving Mary.’ 


“What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do 
you think it points to suicide ?” 

“No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best pos- 
sible solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the 
end of your troubles.” 

“Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; 
you have learned something! Where are the gems?” 

“ Vou would not think £1000 apiece an excessive sum for 
them ?” 

“T would pay ten.” 

“That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover 
the matter. And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you 
your check-book? Here is a pen. Better make it out for 
#4000 pounds.” 

With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. 
Holmes walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular 
piece of gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon 
the table. 

With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. 


“You have it!” he gasped. “Iam saved! I am saved!” 
18 


274 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, 
and he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. 

“There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder,” said 
Sherlock Holmes, rather sternly. 

“Owe!” He caught up a pen. “Name the sum, and I 
will pay it.” 

“No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble 
apology to that noble lad, your son, who has carried himself 
in this matter as I should be proud to see my own son do, 
should I ever chance to have one.” 

“Then it was not Arthur who took them ?” 

“T told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not.” 

“You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once, to 
let him know that the truth is known.” 

“He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had 
an interview with him, and, finding that he would not tell me 
the story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I 
was right, and to add the very few details which were not yet 
quite clear tome. Your news of this morning, however, may 
open his lips.” 

“‘For Heaven’s sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary 
mystery !” 

“T will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I 
reached it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is 
hardest for me to say and for you to hear: there has been 
an understanding between Sir George Burnwell and your niece 
Mary. ‘They have now fled together.” 

““My Mary? Impossible!” 

“It is, unfortunately, more than possible; it is certain. 
Neither you nor your son knew the true character of this man 
when you admitted him into your family circle. He is one of 
the most dangerous men in England—a ruined gambler, an 
absolutely desperate villain, a man without heart or con- 
science. Your niece knew nothing of such men. When he 
breathed his vows to her, as he had done to a hundred be- 
fore her, she flattered herself that she alone had touched his 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 275 


heart. The devil knows best what he said, but at least she 
became his tool, and was in the habit of seeing him nearly 
every evening.” 

“T cannot, and I will not, believe it!’”’ cried the banker, with 
an ashen face. 

“JT will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last 
night. Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your 
room, slipped down and talked to her lover through the window 
which leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed 
right through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told 
him of the coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the 
news, and he bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she 
loved you, but there are women in whom the love of a lover 
extinguishes all other loves, and I think that she must have 
been one. She had hardly listened to his instructions when 
she saw you coming down-stairs, on which she closed the win- 
dow rapidly, and told you about one of the servants’ escapade 
with her wooden-legged lover, which was all perfectly true. 

“Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with 
you, but he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his 
club debts. In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread 
pass his door, so he rose, and looking out, was surprised to see 
his cousin walking very stealthily along the passage, until she 
disappeared into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonish- 
ment, the lad slipped on some clothes, and waited there in the 
dark to see what would come of this strange affair. Presently 
she emerged from the room again, and in the light of the pas- 
sage-lamp your son saw that she carried the precious coronet 
in her hands. She passed down the stairs, and he, thrilling 
with horror, ran along and slipped behind the curtain near 
your door, whence he could see what passed in the hall be- 
neath. He saw her stealthily open the window, hand out the 
coronet to some one in the gloom, and then closing it once 
more hurry back to her room, passing quite close to where he 
stood hid behind the curtain. 

“As long as she was on the scene he could not take any 


276 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


action without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he 
loved. But the instant that she was gone he realized how 
crushing a misfortune this would be for you, and how all- 
important it was to set it right. He rushed down, just as he 
was, in his bare feet, opened the window, sprang out into the 
snow, and ran down the lane, where he could see a dark figure 
in the moonlight. Sir George Burnwell tried to get away, but 
Arthur caught him, and there was a struggle between them, 
your lad tugging at one side of the coronet, and his opponent 
at the other. In the scuffle, your son struck Sir George, and 
cut him over the eye. Then something suddenly snapped, and 
your son, finding that he had the coronet in his hands, rushed 
back, closed the window, ascended to your room, and had just 
observed that the coronet had been twisted in the struggle, 
and was endeavoring to straighten it when you appeared upon 
the scene.” 

“Ts it possible?” gasped the banker. 

“Vou then roused his anger by calling him names at a mo- 
ment when he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. 
He could not explain the true state of affairs without betray- 
ing one who certainly deserved little enough consideration at 
his hands. He took the more chivalrous view, however, and 
preserved her secret.” 

‘‘ And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw 
the coronet,” cried Mr. Holder. “Oh, my God! what a blind 
fool Ihave been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for 
five minutes! The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing 
piece were at the scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have 
misjudged him !” 

‘‘When I arrived at the house,” continued Holmes, “I at 
once went very carefully round it to observe if there were any 
traces in the snow which might help me. I knew that none 
had fallen since the evening before, and also that there had 
been a strong frost to preserve impressions. I passed along 
the tradesmen’s path, but found it all trampled down and in- 
distinguishable. Just beyond it, however, at the far side of 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 277 


the kitchen door, a woman had stood and talked with a man, 
whose round impressions on one side showed that he had a 
wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been disturbed, 
for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was shown 
by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had 
waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the 
time that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom 
you had already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. 
I passed round the garden without seeing anything more than 
random tracks, which I took to be the police; but when I got 
into the stable lane a very long and complex story was written 
in the snow in front of me. 

“There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and 
a second double line which I saw with delight belonged to a 
man with naked feet. I was at once convinced from what you 
had told me that the latter was your son. The first had 
walked both ways, but the other had run swiftly, and, as his 
tread was marked in places over the depression of the boot, it 
was obvious that he had passed after the other. I followed 
them up, and found that they led to the hall window, where 
Boots had worn all the snow away while waiting. Then I 
walked to the other end, which was a hundred yards or more 
down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, where 
the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, and, 
finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me 
that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, 
and another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who 
had been hurt. When he came to the high-road at the other 
' end, I found that the pavement had been cleared, so there 
was an end to that clew. 

“On entering the house, however, I examined, as you re- 
member, the sill and framework of the hall window with my 
lens, and I could at once see that some one had passed out. 
I could distinguish the outline of an instep where the wet foot 
had been placed in coming in. I was then beginning to be 
able to form an opinion as to what had occurred. A man had 


278 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


waited outside the window, some one had brought the gems; 
the deed had been overseen by your son, he had pursued the 
thief, had struggled with him, they had each tugged at the 
coronet, their united strength causing injuries which neither 
alone could have effected. He had returned with the prize, 
but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So far 
I was clear. The question now was, who was the man, and 
who was it brought him the coronet? 7 

“Jt is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded 
the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must 
be the truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had 
brought it down, so there only remained your niece and the 
maids. But if it were the maids, why should your son allow 
himself to be accused in their place? There could be no 
possible reason. As he loved his cousin, however, there was 
an excellent explanation why he should retain her secret— 
the more so as the secret was a disgraceful one. When I re- 
membered that you had seen her at that window, and how she 
had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture be- 
came a certainty. 

“And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover 
evidently, for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude 
which she must feel to you? I knew that you went out little, 
and that your circle of friends was a very limited one. But 
among them was Sir George Burnwell. I had heard of him 
before as being a man of evil reputation among women. It 
must have been he who wore those boots and retained the 
missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur had dis- 
covered him, he might still flatter himself that he was safe, 
for the lad could not say a word without compromising his 
own family. 

“Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I 
took next. I went in the shape of:a loafer to Sir George’s 
house, managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, 
learned that his master had cut his head the night before, and, 
finally, at the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying 


‘*] CLAPPED A PISTOL TO HIS HEAD” 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 279 


a pair of his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to 
Streatham, and saw that they exactly fitted the tracks.” 

“T saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday even- 
ing,” said Mr. Holder. 

“Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I 
came home and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part 
which I had to play then, for I saw that a prosecution must 
be avoided to avert scandal, and I knew that so astute a vil- 
lain would see that our hands were tied in the matter. I went 
and saw him, At first, of course, he denied everything. But 
when I gave him every particular that had occurred, he tried 
to bluster, and took down a life-preserver from the wall. I 
knew my man, however, and I clapped a pistol to his head 
before he could strike. Then he became a little more reason- 
able. I told him that we would give him a price for the 
stones he held — £1000 apiece. That brought out the first 
signs of grief that he had shown. ‘Why, dash it all!’ said he, 
‘I’ve let them go at six hundred for the three!’ I soon man- 
aged to get the address of the receiver who had them, on 
promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I set 
to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at £1000 
apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all 
was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o’clock, 
after what I may call a really hard day’s work.” 

““A day which has saved England from a great public 
scandal,” said the banker, rising. “Sir, I cannot find words 
to thank you, but you shall not find me ungrateful for what 
you have done. Your skill has indeed exceeded all that I 
have heard of it. And now I must fly to my dear boy to 
apologize to him for the wrong which I have done him. As 
to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my very heart, 
Not even your skill can inform me where she is now.” 

“T think that we may safely say,” returned Holmes, “that 
she is wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, 
too, that whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more 
than sufficient punishment.” 


Adventure FT 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 


O the man who loves art for its own sake,” re- 
marked Sherlock Holmes, tossing aside the ad- 
vertisement sheet of Zhe Daily Telegraph, “it is 

Z®) frequently in its least important and _ lowliest 
manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It 
is pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far 
grasped this truth that in these little records of our cases 
which you have been good enough to draw up, and, I am 
bound to say, occasionally to embellish, you have given prom- 
inence not so much to the many causes cé/ébres and sensational 
trials in which I have figured, but rather to those incidents 
which may have been trivial in themselves, but which have 
given room for those faculties of deduction and of logical 
synthesis which I have made my special province.” 

“And yet,” said I, smiling, “I cannot quite hold myself 
absolved from the charge of sensationalism which has been 
urged against my records.” 

“You have erred, perhaps,” he observed, taking up a glow- 
ing cinder with the tongs, and lighting with it the long cherry- 
wood pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in 
a disputatious, rather than a meditative mood—‘“‘you have 
erred perhaps in attempting to put color and life into each of 
your statements, instead of confining yourself to the task of 
placing upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect 
which is really the only notable feature about the thing.” 

“Tt seems to me that I have done you full justice in the 
matter,” I remarked, with some coldness, for I was repelled 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 281 


by the egotism which I had more than once observed to be a 
strong factor in my friend’s singular character. ‘ 

“No, it is not selfishness or conceit,” said he, answering, as 
was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. “If I claim 
full justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing 
—a thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. 
Therefore it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that 
you should dwell. You have degraded what should have been 
a course of lectures into a series of tales.” 

It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after 
breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at 
Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of 
dun-colored houses, and the opposing windows loomed like 
dark, shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our 
gas was lit, and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of 
china and metal, for the table had not been cleared yet. Sher- 
lock Holmes had been silent all the morning, dipping continu- 
ously into the advertisement columns of a succession of papers, 
until at last, having apparently given up his search, he had 
emerged in no very sweet temper to lecture me upon my liter- 
ary shortcomings. 

“ At the same time,” he remarked, after a pause, during 
which he had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down 
into the fire, “ you can hardly be open to a charge of sensa- 
tionalism, for out of these cases which you have been so kind 
as to interest yourself in, a fair proportion do not treat of 
crime, in its legal sense, at all. The small matter in which I 
endeavored to help the King of Bohemia, the singular expe- 
rience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the problem connected with 
the man with the twisted lip, and the incident of the noble 
bachelor, were all matters which are outside the pale of the 
law. But in avoiding the sensational, I fear that you may 
have bordered on the trivial.” 

“The end may have been so,” I answered, ‘‘ but the meth- 
ods I hold to have been novel and of interest.” 

“ Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unob- 


282 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


servant public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or 
a compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of 
analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I can- 
not blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, 
or at least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. 
As to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into 
an agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice 
to young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have 
touched bottom at last, however. This note I had this morn- 
ing marks my zero-point, I fancy. Read it!’ He tossed a 
crumpled letter across to me. 

It-was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding 
evening, and ran thus: 


“DeEaR Mr. Ho_meEs,—I am very anxious to consult you.as 
to whether I should or should not accept a situation which 
has been offered to me as governess. I shall call at half-past 
ten to-morrow, if I do not inconvenience you. 

“Yours faithfully, VIOLET HUNTER.” 


“Do you know the young lady?” I asked. 

“Not I.” 

“Tt is half-past ten now.” 

“Ves, and I have no doubt that is her ring.” 

“Tt may turn out to be of more interest than you think. 
You remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which 
appeared to be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious 
investigation. It may be so in this case, also.” 

“Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be 
solved, for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in 
question.” | 

As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the 
room. She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, 
quick face, freckled like a plover’s egg, and with the brisk 
manner of a woman who has had her own way to make in the 
world. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 283 


“You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure,” said she, 
as my companion rose to greet her; “but I have had a very 
strange experience, and as I have no parents or relations of 
any sort from whom I could ask advice, I thought that per- 
haps you would be kind enough to tell me what I should do.” 

“ Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do 
anything that I can to serve you.” 

I could see that Holmes was favorably impressed by the 
manner and speech of his new client. He looked her over in 
his searching fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids 
drooping and his finger tips together, to listen to her story. 

‘“‘T have been a governess for five years,” said she, “in the 
family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the 
colonel received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, 
and took his children over to America with him, so that I 
found myself without a situation. I advertised, and I answered 
advertisements, but without success. At last the little money 
which I had saved began to run short, and I was at my wits’ 
end as to what I should do. 

“There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West 
End called Westaway’s, and there I used to call about once a 
week in order to see whether anything had turned up which 
might suit me. Westaway was the name of the founder of 
the business, but it is really managed by Miss Stoper. She 
sits in her own little office, and the ladies who are seeking 
employment wait in an ante-room, and are then shown in one 
by one, when she consults her ledgers, and sees whether she 
has anything which would suit them. 

“Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little 
office as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. 
A prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face, and a great 
heavy chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat, 
sat at her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking 
very earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he 
gave quite a jump in his chair, and turned quickly to Miss 
Stoper ; 


284 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“*That will do,’ said he; ‘I could not ask for anything 
better. Capital! capital!’ He seemed quite enthusiastic, and 
rubbed his hands together in the most genial fashion. He 
was such a comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleas- 
ure to look at him. 

““* You are looking for a situation, miss ?’ he asked. 

“* Ves, sir.’ 

““* As governess ?” 

“Ss ¥es: sir,’ 

“* And what salary do you ask ?’ 

“<*T had £4 a month in my last place with Colonel Spence 
Munro.’ 

“<Qh, tut, tut! sweating—rank sweating!’ he cried, throw- 
ing his fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a 
boiling passion. ‘How could any one offer so pitiful a sum to 
a lady with such attractions and accomplishments ?’ 

““* My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,’ 
said I. ‘A little French, a little German, music, and drawing—’ 

“<«Tut, tut!’ he cried. ‘This is all quite beside the question. 
The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and de- 
portment of a lady? There it isin a nutshell. If you have 
not, you are not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some 
day play a considerable part in the history of the country. 
But if you have, why, then, how could any gentleman ask you 
to condescend to accept anything under the three figures? 
Your salary with me, madam, would commence at #100 a 
year.’ 

“You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I 
was, such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The 
gentleman, however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity 
upon my face, opened a pocket-book and took out a note. 

“Tt is also my custom,’ said he, smiling in the most pleas- 
ant fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits 
amid the white creases of his face, ‘to advance to my young 
ladies half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any 
little expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.’ 


™ 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 285 


“It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and 
so thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my trades- 
men, the advance was a great convenience, and yet there was 
something unnatural about the whole transaction which made 
me wish to know a little more before I quite committed myself. 

“¢¢ May I ask where you live, sir?’ said I. 

“‘¢ Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, 
five miles on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely 
country, my dear young lady, and the dearest old country- 
house.’ 

“¢ And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they 
would be.’ 

“One child—one dear little romper just six years old. 
Oh, if you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! 
Smack! smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!’ 

‘He leaned back in his chair and laughed his eyes into his 
head again. 

“TI was a little startled at the nature of the child’s amuse- 
ment, but the father’s laughter made me think that perhaps he 
was joking. 

“““My sole duties, then,’ I asked, ‘are to take charge of a 
single child? 

“* No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,’ 
he cried. ‘Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense 
would suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might 
give, provided always that they were such commands as a lady 
might with propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?’ 

“**T should be happy to make myself useful.’ 

“*Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy 
people, you know—faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked 
to wear any dress which we might give you, you would not 
object to our little whim. Heh?’ 

No,’ said I, considerably astonished at his words. 

““*Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive 
to you?’ 

**¢ Oh, no,’ 


286 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“*Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?” 

“‘T could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. 
Holmes, my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather pecul- 
iar tint of chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could 
not dream of sacrificing it in this off-hand fashion. 

““T am afraid that that is quite impossible,’ said I. He 
had been watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I 
could see a shadow pass over his face as I spoke. 

““¢T am afraid that it is quite essential,’ said he. ‘Itisa 
little fancy of my wife’s, and ladies’ fancies, you know, madam, 
ladies’ fancies must be consulted. And so you won’t cut your 
hair ?’ 

“No, sir, I really could not,’ I answered, firmly. 

““¢ Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is 
a pity, because in other respects you would really have done 
very nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a 
few more of your young ladies.’ 

“The manageress had sat all this while busy with her 
papers without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me 
now with so much annoyance upon her face that I could not 
help suspecting that she had lost a handsome commission 
through my refusal. 

“Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books ?’ 
she asked. 

““Tf you please, Miss Stoper.’ 

“Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the 
most excellent offers in this fashion,’ said she, sharply. ‘You 
can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such 
opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.’ She struck 
a gong upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. 

“Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and 
found little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills 
upon the table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done 
a very foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange 
fads, and expected obedience on the most extraordinary mat- 
ters, they were at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 287 


Very few governesses in England are getting £100 a year. 
Besides, what use was my hair to me? Many people are im- 
proved by wearing it short, and perhaps I should be among 
the number. Next day I was inclined to think that I had 
made a mistake, and by the day after I was sure of it. I had 
almost overcome my pride, so far as to go back to the agency 
and inquire whether the place was still open, when I received 
this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it here, and I 
will read it to you: 


**¢ The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. 


“<Drar Miss HUNTER,—Miss Stoper has very kindly given 
me your address, and I write from here to ask you whether 
you have reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious 
that you should come, for she has been much attracted by my © 
description of you. We are willing to give £30 a quarter, or 
#120 a year, so as to recompense you for any little inconven- 
ience which our fads may cause you. They are not very 
exacting, after all. My wife is fond of a particular shade of 
electric blue, and would like you to wear such a dress in-doors 
in the morning. You need not, however, go to the expense of 
purchasing one, as we have one belonging to my dear daughter 
Alice (now in Philadelphia), which would, I should think, fit 
you very well. Then, as to sitting here or there, or amusing 
yourself in any manner indicated, that need cause you no 
inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no doubt a pity, 
especially as I could not help remarking its beauty during our 
short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain firm upon 
this point, and I only hope that the increased salary may 
recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child 
is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall 
meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your 
train. Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.’ 


“That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, 
and my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, 


288 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


however, that before taking the final step I should like te 
submit the whole matter to your consideration.” | 

“Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles 
the question,” said Holmes, smiling. . 

“But you would not advise me to refuse ?” 

“T confess that it is not the situation which I should like to 
see a sister of mine apply for.” 

“What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?” 

“Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have 
yourself formed some opinion ?” 

“Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. 
Mr. Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is 
it not possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to 
keep the matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asy- 
lum, and that he humors her fancies in every way in order to 
prevent an outbreak.” 

“That is a possible solution—in fact, as matters stand, it is 
the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to 
be a nice household for a young lady.” | 

** But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!” 

“Well, yes, of course the pay is good—too good. That is 
what makes me uneasy. Why should they give you £120 a 
year, when they could have their pick for £40? ‘There must 
be some strong reason behind.” 

“ T thought that if I told you the circumstances you would 
understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so 
much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me.” 

“Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure 
you that your little problem promises to be the most interest- 
ing which has come my way for some months. There is 
something distinctly novel about some of the features. If 
you should find yourself in doubt or in danger—” 

“Danger! What danger do you foresee ?” 

Holmes shook his head gravely. “It would cease to be a 
danger if we could define it,” said he. “ But at any time, day 
or night, a telegram would bring me down to your help.” 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 289 


“That is enough.” She rose briskly from her chair with 
the anxiety all swept from her face. “I shall go down to 
Hampshire quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. 
Rucastle at’ once, sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start 
for Winchester to-morrow.” With a few grateful words to 
Holmes she bade us both good-night and bustled off upon 
her way. 

“ At least,” said I, as we heard her quick, firm step descend- 
ing the stairs, “she seems to be a young lady who is very well 
able to take care of herself.” 

“And she would need to be,” said Holmes, gravely; “I am 
much mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days 
are past.” | 

It was not very long before my friend’s prediction was ful- 
filled. A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found 
my thoughts turning in her direction, and wondering what 
strange side-alley of human experience this lonely woman had 
strayed into. The unusual salary, the curious conditions, the 
light duties, all pointed to something abnormal, though whether 
a fad or a plot, or whether the man were a philanthropist or a 
villain, it was quite beyond my powers to determine. As to 
Holmes, I observed that he sat frequently for half an hour on 
end, with knitted brows and an abstracted air, but he swept 
the matter away with a wave of his hand when I mentioned it. 
“Data! data! data!” he cried, impatiently. ‘I can’t make 
bricks without clay.” And yet he would always wind up by 
muttering that no sister of his should ever have accepted such 
a situation. 

The telegram which we eventually received came late one 
night, just as I was thinking of turning in, and Holmes was set- 
tling down to one of those all-night chemical researches which 
he frequently indulged in, when I would leave him stooping 
over a retort and a test-tube at night, and find him in the same 
position when I came down to breakfast in the morning. He 
opened the yellow envelope, and then, glancing at the mes- 
sage, threw it across to me. 


£9 


290 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Just look up the trains in Bradshaw,” said he, and turned 
back to his chemical studies. 

The summons was a brief and urgent one. 

“Please be at the.‘ Black Swan’ Hotel at Winchester at 
mid-day to-morrow,” it said. “Do come! I am at my wits’ 
end. HUNTER.” 


“Will you come with me?” asked Holmes, glancing up. 

“T should wish to.” 

“Just look it up, then.” 

“There is a train at half-past nine,” said I, glancing over 
my Bradshaw. “It is due at Winchester at 11.30.” | 

“That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better 
postpone my analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be 
at our best in the morning.” 


By eleven o’clock the next day we were well upon our way 
to the old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the 
morning papers all the way down, but after we had passed the 
Hampshire border he threw them down, and began to admire 
the scenery. It was an ideal spring day, a light blue sky, 
flecked with little fleecy white clouds drifting across from 
west to east. The sun was shining very brightly, and yet 
there was an exhilarating nip in the air, which set an edge to 
a man’s energy. All over the country-side, away to the rolling 
hills around Aldershot, the little red and gray roofs of the 
farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light green of the 
new foliage. 

“Are they not fresh and beautiful?” I cried, with all the 
enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. 

But Holmes shook his head gravely. 

‘“‘Do: you know, Watson,” said he, “that it is one of the 
curses of a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at 
everything with reference to my own special subject. You 
look at these scattered houses, and you are impressed by their 
beauty. I look at them, and the only thought which comes 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 29! 


to me is a feeling of their isolation and of the impunity with 
which crime may be committed there.” 

“Good heavens!” I cried. “Who would associate crime 
with these dear old homesteads ?” 

“They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, 
Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and 
vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record 
of sin than does the smiling and beautiful country-side.” 

“Vou horrify me!” ; 

“But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public 
opinion can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. 
There is no lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or 
the thud of a drunkard’s blow, does not beget sympathy and 
indignation among the neighbors, and then the whole machin- 
ery of justice is ever so close that a word of complaint can set 
it going, and there is but a step between the crime and the 
dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in its own fields, 
filled for the most part with poor ignorant folk who know little 
of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden 
wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, 
and none the wiser. Had this lady who appeals to us for help 
gone to live in Winchester, I should never have had a fear for 
her. It is the five miles of country which makes the danger. 
Still, it is clear that she is not personally threatened.” 

“No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can 
get away.” 

“Quite so. She has her freedom.” 

“What can be the matter, then? Can you suggest no ex- 
planation ?” 

“T have devised seven separate explanations, each of which 
would cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of 
these is correct can only be determined by the fresh informa- 
tion which we shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there 
is the tower of the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that 
Miss Hunter has to tell.” 

The “ Black Swan” is an inn of repute in the High Street, 


292 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


at no distance from the station, and there we found the young 
lady waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our 
lunch awaited us upon the table. 

“Tam so delighted that you have come,” she said, earnestly. 
“Tt is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know 
what I should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable 
to me.” 

“Pray tell us what has happened to you.” 

‘‘T will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. 
Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come 
into town this morning, though he little knew for what pur- 
pose.” 

“Let us have everything in its due order.” Holmes thrust 
his long thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself 
to listen. 

“In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, 
with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It 
is only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand 
them, and I am not easy in my mind about them.” 

“What can you not understand ?” 

“ Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all 
just as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me 
here, and drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It 
is, as he said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in 
itself, for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, 
but all stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. 
There are grounds round it, woods on three sides, and on the 
fourth a field which slopes down to the Southampton high-road, 
which curves past about a hundred yards from the front door. 
This ground in front belongs to the house, but the woods all 
round are part of Lord Southerton’s preserves. A clump of 
copper beeches immediately in front of the hall door has given 
its name to the place. ; 

“T was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as 
ever, and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and 
the child. There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture 


3 . 
‘¢Sy aM SO DELIGHTED THAT YOU HAVE COME 


999 


x rt 


be 
ey 


my 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 293 


which seemed to us to be probable in your rooms at Baker 
Street. Mrs. Rucastle is not mad. I found her to be a silent, 
pale-faced woman, much younger than her husband, not more 
than thirty, I should think, while he can hardly be less than 
forty-five. From their conversation I have gathered that they 
have been married about seven years, that he was a widower, 
and that his only child by the first wife was the daughter who 
has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. Rucastle told me in private 
that the reason why she had left them was that she had an 
unreasoning aversion to her step-mother. As the daughter 
could not have been less than twenty, I can quite imagine that 
her position must have been uncomfortable with her father’s 
young wife. 

“Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colorless in mind as 
well as in feature. She impressed me neither favorably nor 
the reverse. She was anonentity. It was easy to see that she 
was passionately devoted both to her husband and to her little 
son. Her light gray eyes wandered continually from one to 
the other, noting every little want and forestalling it if possi- 
ble. He was kind to her also in his bluff, boisterious fashion, 
and on the whole they seemed to be a happy couple. And 
yet she had some secret sorrow, this woman. She would often 
be lost in deep thought, with the saddest look upon her face. 
More than once I have surprised her in tears. I have thought 
sometimes that it was the disposition of her child which 
weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so utterly spoilt 
and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small for his age, 
with a head which is quite disproportionately large. His 
whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between 
savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. 
Giving pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to 
be his one idea of amusement, and he shows quite re- 
markable talent in planning the capture of mice, little birds, 
and insects. But I would rather not talk about the creat-— 
ure, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he has little to do with my 
story.” 


294 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“JT am glad of all details,” remarked my friend, “ whether 
they seem to you to be relevant or not.” 

‘“‘T shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one 
unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, 
was the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are 
only two, a man and his wife. ‘Toller, for that is his name, is 
a rough, uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a 
perpetual smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them 
he has been quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take 
no notice of it. His wife is a very tall and strong woman 
with a sour face, as silent as Mrs. Rucastle, and much less 
amiable. They are a most unpleasant couple, but fortunately 
I spend most of my time in the nursery and my own room, 
which are next to each other in one corner of the building. 

“For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my 
life was very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down 
just after breakfast and whispered something to her husband. 

“‘*Oh yes,’ said he, turning to me ; ‘we are very much obliged 
to you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to 
cut your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the 
tiniest iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the 
electric-blue dress will become you. You will find it laid out 
upon the bed in your room, and if you would be so good as to 
put it on we should both be extremely obliged.’ 

“The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar 
shade of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, 
but it bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. 
It could not have been a better fit if I had been measured for 
it. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the 
look of it, which seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. 
They were waiting for me in the drawing-room, which is a 
very large-room, stretching along the entire front of the house, 
with three long windows reaching down to the floor. A chair 
had been placed close to the central window, with its back 
turned towards it. In this I was asked to sit, and then Mr. 
Rucastle, walking up and down on the other side of the room, 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 295 


began to tell me a series of the funniest stories that I have 
ever listened to. You cannot imagine how comical he was, 
and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. Rucastle, how- 
ever, who has evidently no sense of humor, never so much as 
smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, anxious 
look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle sud- 
denly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of 
the day, and that I might change my dress and go to little 
Edward in the nursery. 

“Two days later this same performance was gone through 
under exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my 
dress, again I sat in the window, and again I laughed very 
heartily at the funny stories of which my employer had an 
immense réfertoire, and which he told inimitably. Then he 
_ handed me a yellow-backed novel, and, moving my chair a little. 
sideways, that my own shadow might not fall upon the page, 
he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for about ten 
minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then sud- 
denly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease 
and to change my dress. 

“You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I be- 
came as to what the meaning of this extraordinary perform- 
ance could possibly be. They were always very careful, I 
observed, to turn my face away from the window, so that I 
became consumed with the desire to see what was going on 
behind my back. At first it seemed to be impossible, but I- 
soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been broken, so a 
happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of the glass 
in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst of 
my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was 
able with a little management to see all that there was be- 
hind me. I confess that I was disappointed. There was 
nothing. At least that was my first impression. At the second 
glance, however, I perceived that there was a man standing 
in the Southampton Road, a small bearded man in a gray 
suit, who seemed to be looking in my direction. The road is 


296 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


an important highway, and there are usually people there. 
This man, however, was leaning against the railings which 
bordered our field, and was looking earnestly up. I lowered 
my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle, to find her 
eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said 
nothing, but I am convinced that she had divined that I had 
a mirror in my hand, and had seen what was behind me. She 
rose at once. 

“¢ Jephro,’ said she, ‘there is an impertinent fellow upon the 
road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.’ 

“No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?’ he asked. 

**¢ No; I know no one in these parts.’ 

“¢Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round 

-and motion to him to go away.’ 

**¢ Surely it would be better to take no notice.’ 

“No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly 
turn round and wave him away like that.’ 

‘‘T did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle 
drew down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that 
time I have not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the 
blue dress, nor. seen the man in the road.” 

“ Pray continue,” said Holmes. ‘ Your narrative promises 
to be a most interesting one.” 

“ Vou will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may 
prove to be little relation between the different incidents of 
which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper 
Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took. me. to a small out-house which 
stands near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard 
the sharp rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large 
animal moving about. 

“Took in here!’ said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit be- 
tween two planks. ‘Is he not a beauty ?” 

“T looked through, and was conscious of two glowing eyes, 
and of a vague figure huddled up in the darkness. 

“‘* Don’t be frightened,’ said my employer, laughing at the 
start which I had given. ‘It’s only Carlo, my mastiff. I call 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 297 


him mine, but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man 
who can do anything with him. We feed him once a day, and 
not too much then, so that he is always as keen as mustard. 
Toller lets him loose every night, and God help the trespasser 
whom he lays his fangs upon. For goodness’ sake don’t you 
ever on any pretext set your foot over the threshold at night, 
for it is as much as your life is worth.’ 

“The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I hap- 
pened to look out of my bedroom window about two o’clock 
in the morning. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the 
lawn in front of the house was silvered over and almost as 
bright as day. I was standing, wrapt in the peaceful beauty 
of the scene, when I was aware that something was moving 
under the shadow of the copper beeches. As it emerged into 
the moonshine I saw what it was. It was a giant dog, as 
large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging jowl, black muzzle, 
and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly across the lawn 
and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. That 
dreadful silent sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do 
not think that any burglar could have done. 

“And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I 
had, as you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had 
placed it in a great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One 
evening, after the child ‘was in bed, I began to amuse myself 
by examining the furniture of my room and by rearranging 
my own little things. There was an old chest of drawers in 
the room, the two upper ones empty and open, the lower one 
locked. I had filled the first two with my linen, and, as I had 
still much to pack away, Iwas naturally annoyed at not hav- 
ing the use of the third drawer. It struck me that it might 
have been fastened by a mere oversight, so I took out my 
bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very first key fitted 
to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There was only 
one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never guess what 
it was. It was my coil of hair. 

“T took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar 


298 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


tint, and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of 
the thing obtruded itself upon me. How cou/d my hair have 
been locked in the drawer? With trembling hands I undid 
my trunk, turned out the contents, and drew from the bottom 
my own hair. I laid the two tresses together, and I assure 
you that they were identical. Was it not extraordinary? Puz- 
zle as I would, I could make nothing at all of what it meant. 
I returned the strange hair to the drawer, and I said noth- 
ing of the matter to the Rucastles, as I felt that I had put 
myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had 
locked. 

“T am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. 
Holmes, and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole 
house in my head. There was one wing, however, which ap- 
peared not to be inhabited at all. A door which faced that 
which led into the quarters of the Tollers opened into this 
suite, but it was invariably locked. One day, however, as I 
ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle coming out through 
this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on his face which 
made him a very different person to the round, jovial man to 
whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his brow was 
all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his temples 
with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me with- 
out a word or a look. | 

“This aroused my curiosity ; so when I went out for a walk 
in the grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side 
from which I could see the windows of this part of the house. 
There were four of them in a row, three of which were simply 
dirty, while the fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently 
all deserted. As I strolled up and down, glancing at them 
occasionally, Mr. Rucastle came out to me, looking as merry 
and jovial as ever. 

“* Ah!’ said he, ‘you must not think me rude if I passed 
you without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied 
with business matters.’ 

“T assured him that I was not offended. ‘ By-the-way,’ said 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 299 


I, ‘you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, 
and one of them has the shutters up.’ 

“He looked surprised, and, as it seemed to me, a little 
startled at my remark. 

“* Photography is one of my hobbies,’ said he. ‘I have 
made my dark room up there. But,dear me! what an observ- 
ant young lady we have come upon. Who would have be- 
lieved it? Who would have ever believed it?? He spoke in 
a jesting tone, but there was no jest in his eyes as he looked 
at me. I read suspicion there and annoyance, but no jest. 

“Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood 
that there was something about that suite of rooms which I 
was not to know, I was all on fire to go over them. It was not 
mere curiosity, though I have my share of that. It was more 
a feeling of duty—a feeling that some good might come from 
my penetrating to this place. They talk of woman’s instinct; 
perhaps it was woman’s instinct which gave me that feeling. 
At any rate, it was there, and I was keenly on the lookout 
for any chance to pass the forbidden door. 

“Tt was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell 
you that, besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find 
something to do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him 
carrying a large black linen bag with him through the door. 
Recently he has been drinking hard, and yesterday evening 
he was very drunk; and, when I came up-stairs, there was the 
key in the door. I have no doubt at all that he had left it 
there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both down-stairs, and the 
child was with them, so that I had an admirable opportunity. 
I turned the key gently in the lock, opened the door, and 
slipped: through. 

“There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and 
uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. 
Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and 
third of which were open. They each led into an empty room, 
dusty and cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in 
the other, so thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered 


300 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


dimly through them. ‘The centre door was closed, and across 
the outside of it had been fastened one of the broad bars of 
an iron bed, padlocked at one end to a ring in the wall, and 
fastened at the other with stout cord. The door itself was 
locked as well, and the key was not there. This barricaded 
door corresponded clearly with the shuttered window outside, 
and yet I could see by the glimmer from beneath it that the 
room was not in darkness. Evidently there was a skylight 
which let in light from above. As I stood in the passage 
gazing at the sinister door, and wondering what secret it 
might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the 
room, and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against 
the little slit of dim light which shone out from under the 
door. A mad, unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, 
Mr. Holmes. My overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and 
I turned and ran—ran as though some dreadful hand were be- 
hind me clutching at the skirt of my dress. I rushed down 
the passage, through the door, and straight into the arms of 
Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting outside. 

“«So,’ said he, smiling, ‘it was you, then. I thought that it 
must be when I saw the door open.’ 

““¢Oh, I am so frightened!’ I panted. 

“* My dear young lady! my dear young lady !’—you cannot 
think how caressing and soothing his manner was—‘ and what 
has frightened you, my dear young lady ?’ 

“But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. 
I was keenly on my guard against him. 

“<T was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,’ I an- 
swered. ‘But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I 
was frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully 
still in there !’ 

‘“‘¢Only-that?’ said he, looking at me keenly. 

“«Why, what did you think ?’ I asked. 

““¢Why do you think that I lock this door ?’ 

““¢T am sure that I do not know.’ 

“¢Tt is to keep people out who have no business there. 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 301 


Do you see?’ He was still smiling in the most amiable 
manner. : 

““¢T am sure if I had known—’ 

“*Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your 
foot over that threshold again—’ here in an instant the 
smile hardened into a grin of rage, and he glared down 
at me with the face of a demon—‘I’ll throw you to the 
mastiff.’ 

“T was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose 
that I must have rushed past him into my room. I remem- 
ber nothing until I found myself lying on my bed trembling 
all over. Then I thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not 
live there longer without some advice. I was frightened of 
the house, of the man, of the woman, of the servants, even of 
the child. They were all horrible to me. If I could only 
bring you down all would be well. Of course I might have 
fled from the house, but my curiosity was almost as strong as 
my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would send youa 
wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the office, 
which is about half a mile from the house, and then returned, 
feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my 
mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, 
but I remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state 
of insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only 
one in the household who had any influence with the savage 
creature, or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in 
in safety, and lay awake half the night in my joy at the 
thought of seeing you. I had no difficulty in getting leave to 
come into Winchester this morning, but I must be back before 
three o’clock, for Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, 
and will be away all the evening, so that I must look after the 
child. Now I have told you all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, 
and I should be very glad if you could tell me what it all 
means, and, above all, what I should do.” 

Holmes and [ had listened spellbound to this extraordinary 
story. My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, 


302 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


his hands in his pockets, and an expression of the most pro- 
found gravity upon his face. 

“Ts Toller still drunk ?” he asked. 

“Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could 
do nothing with him.” 

“That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night ?” 

of Ness! 

“Ts there a cellar with a good strong lock?” 

“Yes, the wine-cellar.” . 

“You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like 
a very brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think 
that you could perform one more feat? I should not ask it of 
you if I did not think you a quite exceptional woman.” 

“T will try. What is it?” 

“We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o’clock, my 
friend and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and 
Toller will, we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. 
Toller, who might give the alarm. If you could send her into 
the cellar on some errand, and then turn the key upon her, 
you would facilitate matters immensely.” 

“T will do it.” 

“Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. 
Of course there is only one feasible explanation. You have 
been brought there to personate some one, and the real person 
is imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who 
this prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss 
Alice Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have 
gone to America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling 
her in height, figure, and the color of your hair, Hers had 
been cut off, very possibly in some illness through which she 
has passed, and so, of course, yours had to be sacrificed also. 
By a curious chance you came upon her tresses. The man in 
the road was, undoubtedly, some friend of hers—possibly her 
fiancé—and no doubt, as you wore the girl’s dress and were so 
like her, he was convinced from your laughter, whenever he 
saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, that Miss Rucastle 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 303 


was perfectly happy, and that she no longer desired his atten- 
tions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent him from 
endeavoring to communicate with her. So much is fairly 
clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition 
of the child.” | 

“What on earth has that to do with it?” I ejaculated. 

“My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually 
gaining light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the 
parents. Don’t you see that the converse is equally valid. I 
have frequently gained my first real insight into the character 
of parents by studying their children. This child’s disposition 
is abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty’s sake, and whether he 
derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or from 
his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their power.” 

“T am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes,” cried our client. 
** A thousand things come back to me which make me certain 
that you have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing 
help to this poor creature.” 

‘*We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very 
cunning man. We can do nothing until seven o’clock. At 
that hour we shall be with you, and it will not be long before 
we solve the mystery.” 

We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we 
reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a way- 
side public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves 
shining like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, 
were sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not 
been standing smiling on the door-step. 

‘Have you managed it?” asked Holmes. 

A loud thudding noise came from somewhere down-stairs. 
“That is Mrs. Toller in the cellar,” said she. ‘“ Her husband 
lies snoring on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are 
the duplicates of Mr. Rucastle’s.” 

“You have done well indeed!’ cried Holmes, with enthu- 
siasm. ‘‘ Now lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of 
this black business.” 


304 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on 
down a passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade 
which Miss Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and 
removed the transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys 
in the lock, but without success. No sound came from within, 
and at the silence Holmes’s face clouded over. 

“‘T trust that we are not too late,” said he. ‘I think, Miss 
Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, 
put your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot 
make our way in.” 

It was an old rickety door, and gave at once before our 
united strength. ‘Together we rushed into the room. It was 
empty. There was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a 
small table, and a basketful of linen. The skylight above was 
open, and the prisoner gone. 

“There has been some villainy here,” said Holmes; “this 
beauty has guessed Miss Hunter’s intentions, and has carried 
his victim off.” 

“ But how ?” 

“Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he man- 
aged it.” He swung himself up onto the roof. ‘ Ah, yes,” 
he cried; ‘“‘here’s the end of a long light ladder against the 
eaves. ‘That is how he did it.” 

‘“‘ But it is impossible,” said Miss Hunter; ‘“ the ladder was 
not there when the Rucastles went away.” 

“He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a 
clever and dangerous man. I should not be very much sur- 
prised if this were he whose step I hear now upon the stair. 
I think, Watson, that it would be as well for you to have your 
pistol ready.” | 

The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man 
appeared at the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, 
with a heavy stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and 
shrunk against the wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock 
Holmes sprang forward and confronted him. 

“ Vou villain!” said he, “ where’s your daughter ?” 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 305 


The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open 
skylight. 

“Tt is for me to ask you that,” he shrieked, “ you thieves ! 
Spies and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in 
my power. I'll serve you!” He turned and clattered down 
the stairs as hard as he could go. 

“ He’s gone for the dog!” cried Miss Hunter. 

“T have my revolver,” said I. 

“ Better close the front door,” cried Holmes, and we all 
rushed down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the 
hall when we heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream 
of agony, with a horrible worrying sound which it was dread- 
ful to listen to. An elderly man with a red face and shaking 
limbs came staggering out at a side door. 

“My God!” he cried. “Some one has loosed the dog. It’s 
not been fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it’ll be too late!” 

Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, 
with Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge fam- 
ished brute, its black muzzle buried in Rucastle’s throat, while 
he writhed and screamed upon the ground. Running up, I 
blew its brains out, and it fell over with its keen white teeth 
still meeting in the great creases of his neck. With much 
labor we separated them, and carried him, living but horribly 
mangled, into the house. We laid him upon the drawing-room 
sofa, and, having despatched the sobered Toller to bear the 
news to his wife, I did what I could to relieve his pain. We 
were all assembled round him when the door opened, and a 
tall, gaunt woman entered the room. 

“Mrs. Toller!” cried Miss Hunter. 

* “Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back 
before he went.up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn’t let 
me know what you were planning, for I would have told you 
that your pains were wasted.” 

“Ha!” said Holmes, looking keenly at her. “It is clear 
that Mrs. Toller knows more about this matter than any one 


else.” 
20 


306 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 


“Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I 
know.” 

“Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it, for there are 
several points on which I must confess that I am still in the 
dark.” 

“T will soon make it clear to you,” said she; “and I’d have 
done so before now if I could ha’ got out from the cellar. If 
there’s police-court business over this, you’ll remember that I 
was the one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice’s 
friend too. 

“She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn’t, from the 
time that her father married again. She was slighted like, and 
had no say in anything ; but it never really became bad for 
her until after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend’s house. As 
well as I could learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, 
but she was so quiet and patient, she was, that she never said 
a word about them, but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle’s 
hands. He knew he was safe with her; but when there was a 
chance of a husband coming forward, who would ask for all that 
the law would give him, then her father thought it time to put a 
stop on it. He wanted her to sign a paper, so that whether she 
married or not, he could use her money. When she wouldn’t 
do it, he kept on worrying her until she got brain-fever, and 
for six weeks was at death’s door. Then she got better at 
last, all worn to a shadow, and with her beautiful hair cut off; 
but that didn’t make no change in her young man, and he 
stuck to her as true as man could be.” 

“ Ah,” said Holmes, “I think that what you have been 
good enough to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that 
I can deduce all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, 
took to this system of imprisonment ?” > 

* Ves, sir.” 

“ And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to 
get rid of the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler.” 

“ That was it, sir.” 

“But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good sea- 


THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 307 


man should be, blockaded the house, and, having met you, 
succeeded by certain arguments, metallic or otherwise, in con- 
vincing you that your interests were the same as his.” 

“Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentle- 
man,” said Mrs. Toller, serenely. 

“ And in this way he managed that your good man should 
have no want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at 
the moment when your master had gone out.” 

“You have it, sir, just as it happened.” 

“T am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller,” said 

Holmes, “ for you have certainly cleared up everything which 
puzzled us. And here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. 
Rucastle, so I think, Watson, that we had best escort Miss 
Hunter back to Winchester, as it seems to me that our Jocus 
standi now is rather a questionable one.” 
_ And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with 
the copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle sur- 
vived, but was always a broken man, kept alive solely through 
the care of his devoted wife. They still live with their old 
servants, who probably know so much of Rucastle’s past life 
that he finds it difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and 
Miss Rucastle were married, by special license, in Southamp- 
ton the day after their flight, and he is now the holder of a 
Government appointment in the Island of Mauritius. As to 
Miss Violet Hunter, my friend Holmes, rather to my disap- 
pointment, manifested no further interest in her when once 
she had ceased to be the centre of one of his problems, and 
she is now the head of a private school at Walsall, where I 
believe that she has met with considerable success. 


THE END 


’ 


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